THE 



NIVERSALIST CENTENNIAL 









, 



PROCEEDINGS 



AT THE 



Universalist Centennial 



HELD IN 



GLOUCESTER, MASS., 



SEPTEMBER 20th, 21st, & 22nd, 



1870. 



BOSTON: 
UNT7ERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

37 CORNHILL. 









Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by the 

Universalist Publishing House, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

35 o4-7 
N D3. 






NOTE. 

The volume here presented to the reader is made up largely from short-hand re- 
ports of the several meetings held at Gloucester during the great Jubilee Convention of 
Sept. 1870. Pains have been taken to furnish a complete and reliable account of the 
largest and most important assembly of Universalists ever gathered. It is believed 
that the effort has been unusually successful; and the publishers offer the volume to 
the Universalists of America as at once a record and a memorial of the greatest event 
in the history of their Church. 



EEPORTS. 



Report of the Board of Trustees. 



To the General Convention of Universalis in 

the United States of America. 

The Board of Trustees herewith, present 
their Fifth Annual Report. 

They have held seven meetings during the 
year. 

The Rochester Parish, having at the solici- 
tation of the Convention, released Dr. Saxe 
from his engagement with them, he entered 
upon his duties as General Secretary, Oct. 7th, 
1869. A report of his work for the year is 
hereto appended. 

To secure the safe and judicious investment 
of the Murray Fund, the following Committee 
was appointed : — Hon. I. Washburn, Jr., Me. ; 

A. A. Miner, D. D., Mass. ; Benj. F. Romaine, 
Esq., N. Y. ; Chas. H. Rogers, Esq., Pa. ; Chas. 

B. Sawyer, Esq., 111. 

UNIFORM ORGANIZATION. 

The Board has been notified of the re-organ- 
ization of the Georgia and Alabama State 
Conventions ; and of the adoption by the Illi- 
nois Convention of the Constitution recom- 
mended by this body. Twenty-one States are 
now organized in Conventions. 

THE WASHINGTON MOVEMENT. 

The Board has furnished regular pulpit sup- 
plies to the Washington Society, during ten 
month's of the year. The Society has been 
steadily gaining ground, and its prospects for 
permanent success are improving. And while 
the Board would gladly recommend the Con- 
vention to build for them a Church, or even at 
less outlay to supply a settled pastor, it is yet 
their opinion that the immediate and pressing 
needs of the Convention are such, that at pres- 
ent it is inexpedient to adopt either plan. 

CONVENTION SCHOLARSHIPS. 

The Funds of the North- Western Confer- 
ence having been exhausted by the surrender 
of the missionary work of that Conference to 
the General Convention, the Board adopted its 
Beneficiaries, five in number, and has granted 
besides fifteen new scholarships of $180 each 
per annum. 



Since the Convention commenced this work, 
(1865) 45 scholarships have been granted. Of 
the number thus aided, one has died, one has 
abandoned the ministry, 14 are still in the 
Schools, and 29 are at work in the Ministry. 

BEQUESTS. 

The Board has been notified that Mr. W. S. 
Gunn of Nyack, N. Y., has bequeathed the 
sum of $8,000 to the Convention, in trust for 
the relief of disabled clergymen. 

STATISTICS. 

Complaint having been made in former 
years that the statistical blanks furnished by 
the Convention were too complicated and elab- 
orate in detail, a blank was this year prepared 
which demanded only such facts as it seemed 
must be within the reach of every clerk or 
pastor. But the results, although perhaps 
more favorable than those of former years, are 
not such as afford us any accurate estimate of 
our strength. The State Secretaries gener- 
ally have displayed the utmost zeal and dili- 
gence — the fault is with the Parishes. 

The Convention of last year instructed the 
Permanent Secretary to " make honorable men- 
tion of all who promptly and faithfully respond 
to his call ; and that the officers of subordi- 
nate bodies who fail in this regard be named 
in the Report, to become a part of the Record." 
Honorable mention is therefore made of the 
following Secretaries, who have made as com- 
plete returns as possible, with the materials at 
their command. 

Rev. C. Weston, Maine; Rev. S. H. McCol- 
lester, N. H. ; Rev. G. S. Guernsey, Yt. ; Rev. C. 
J. White, Mass. ; W. S. Johnson, R. I. ; J. S. 
Hussey, Ct. ; Rev. A. A. Thayer, N. Y. ; Thos. 
J. Pullen, N. J. ; Henry E. Busch, Pa. ; Rev. 
E. L. Rexford, Ohio ; Rev. M. B. Carpenter, 
Mich. ; Rev. W. W. Curry, Ind. ; Rev. T. H. 
Tabor, 111. ; Rev. J. Britton, Wis. ; W. H. 
Fleming, Iowa ; N. H. Hemiup, Minn. ; Rev. 
J. H. Ballou, Kansas ; Rev. Stephen Hull re- 
ports for Missouri ; Jas. M. Phillips for West 
Virginia, and Rev. L. F. Andrews, for Georgia. 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



THE MISSIONARY BOXES. 

This report closes September 8th. From 
January 1st, 1870, to this date, 10,097 boxes 
have been heard from, giving an aggregate of 
$10,380 81, an average of Si 02 per box. 
The Board believes that the success of this 
method of raising money depends very largely 
upon the hearty co-operation of the clergy, and 
efficient laymen in the parishes. With such 
co-operation, the Boxes can be made to yield 
a permanent income to the Convention of 
from $15,000 to $20,000 per annum. Refer- 
ence is made to the Report of the Committee 
hereto appended, for details of construction 
and distribution. 

FINANCES. 

The Buffalo Convention in its preoccupa- 
tion with Centenary affairs seemed to overlook 
the fact that this Board could not carry out the 
plans of the Convention without money. 

It was voted to raise $200,000 Murray Fund, 
and a General Secretary was elected to super- 



vise the work : the Missionary Box plan was 
approved ; the Board was instructed to render 
the Washington Society all the aid in its 
power, the granting of Scholarships to worthy 
young men desiring to enter the ministry was 
approved, &c. : but the fact was overlooked 
that, pending the raising and investment of the 
Murray Fund, the Board had only $2,309 35 
to carry on the work of this most important 
year. At the first meeting of the Board after 
the Buffalo Convention, it became apparent 
that to carry out the expressed desire of the 
Convention, and not to abandon the work al- 
ready begun, or recede from the pledges al- 
ready made, there was a deficiency of some 
$16,000 to be met, for which no provision 
whatever had been made. The Board resolved 
that it would carry on the work committed to 
it at all hazards, and has accordingly borrowed 
the Funds necessary to keep these various en- 
terprises alive, to the amount of $15,000 ; and 
it now asks the Convention to provide for the 
same, and relieve it from the responsibility it 
has thus incurred. 



Permanent Treasurer's Beport 



To the General Convention of Universalists in the 
United States of America: 

The undersigned begs leave to present here- 
with his annual Report, with an account cur- 
rent of the expenses and disbursements of the 
General Convention for the year ending on the 
morning of the third Tuesday of September, 
1870, and also a statement of the receipts for 
account of the Murray Centenary Fund, and 
of its investment so far as the same has been 
made, together with the proper vouchers ac- . 
companying the respective amounts. 

An abstract of the accounts is given here- 
with, for the details of which reference may be 
had to the accompanying documents. 
GENERAL ACCOUNT. 

18G9 RECEIPTS. 

Oct. 15. So Balance received from the late 

Treasurer $2,309 35 

Dec. 28. " Borrowed from the New York State 

Convention 2,000 

Dec. 31. " Received from Missionary Boxes to 

date 165 32 

1870. 

June 2. " Proceeds of Note discounted at Trade- 
man's National Bank, Philadelphia. 2,936 50 

July 20. " Borrowed upon the obligation of Board 

Trustees 10,000 

Sept. 12. " Received from the Permanent Sec- 
retary ._. . ,,, 974 22 



DISBURSEMENTS. 

Construction and Expressage Missionary Boxes, 3,174 86 

Scholarships, 3,900 

General Secretary's salary 3,208 26 

Permanent Secretary 500 

Travelling Expenses 934 60 

Aid to the Washington D. C. , Society 1,159 85 

Office expenses, Stationery, &c 1,591 22 

14,468 79 

In Treasury— General account, 3,916 70 

MURRAY CENTENARY FUND 
ACCOUNT. 

RECEIPTS. 
J. M. Pullman, Permanent Secretary for, 

Received from Missionary Box collections $10,380 81 

" Prom other sources, 23,827 46 

$34,208 27 
DISBURSEMENTS. 
Invested under the direction of the Investing 

Committee, 10,000 



$18,385 49 



In Treasury— Murray Fund Account $24,208 27 

The present indebtedness of the General 
Convention is as follows : 

Due New York State Convention for Loan and inter- 
est $ 2,105 

" Note discounted at Philadelphia, due Oct. 5th, 

1870 , 3,009 

" Loan from Murray Fund and interest, say. .... . 10,175 

" Construction of Missionary Boxes 235 

" Installment to Beneficiaries — Due Octobet 1st, 

1870, 1,500 

Total $17,015 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

D. L. Holden, Permanent Treasurer. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



Receipts for general account to December 

31,1869, $368 09 

Receipts for account of Murray Fund 

from Jan. 1 to June 30, 1S70, 2,629 58 

From July 1 to September 8, 1870 7,751 23 10,380 81 



Eeport of the Committee on the Missionary Army 

To the Board of Trustees : 

Your Committee beg leave to report that 
agreeably to your instructions they have 
caused an adequate supply of Missionary 
Boxes to be constructed from time to time, as 
they have been required during the year, and 
have promptly forwarded them to oarties desir- 
inp; them. , 



Total receipts from the army. 



The whole cost of constructtion and expres- 
sage to this date is 



$10,748 90 



,707 26 



There have been prepared for distribution to Boxes 

this date 30,000 

Distributed prior to October 1, 1869 3,000 25,560 

Distributed the current year 22,560 



Number of Boxes ready for issue,. . . . 4,440 

The above distribution has been principally 
to State Agents, Pastors, and Sunday School 
Superintendents, though quite a large number 
have been sent out by mail singly to individu- 
als. Your Committee avail themselves of this 
opportunity to express their thanks to H. B. 
Metcalf, Esq., of Boston, through whose exer- 
tions over ten thousand Boxes have been dis- 
tributed through the New England States. 

The gross receipts since the organization of 
the army are as follows : — 



Returns of deliveries of Boxes to the mem- 
bers of the army have been received, showing 
a very satisfactory result, and when fully re- 
ported will increase the number of names up- 
on the Register to eighteen or twenty thousand. 

Your Committee believe this to be one of the 
best methods that can be employed to unite 
our friends in their efforts to advance the inter- 
ests of the denomination, and they trust that its 
usefulness will be felt in a still greater degree 
in the future, and that the efficient engine 
which this Auxiliary has shown itself to be 
may be retained permanently in the service of 
the General Convention. 

Respectfully submitted, 

D. L. HOLDEN, 

J. M. Pullman, 



Committee. 



General Secretary's Eeport 

To the Board of Trustees of the General Con- 
vention of Universalists : 
As the Session of our Supreme Denomina- 
tional Body approaches, which will consummate 
a year of unusual activity and unprecedented 
importance in the history of our Church, it be- 
comes my duty to submit my annual Report, as 
General Secretary of the Convention. 

I accepted the position to which the voice of 
the Convention called me with very great re- 
luctance, distrusting most sincerely my fitness 
for the place which had been so worthily and 
ably filled by my predecessor, and trembling 
before the magnitude of the work to be en- 
trusted to my superintendence. 

Our Centenary year was about opening and 
a comprehensive plan had been projected for 
making it memorable. 

It involved scarcely less than the inaugura- 
tion of a new era in our history. The denomi- 
national heart was to be fired with a new zeal 
by the unfolding of inspiring possibilities — the 
giving spirit was to be quickened — large sums 
of money to be raised while the very machinery 
for money raising in the main was to be cre- 



ated. The leadership in this work as well as 
the responsibility was to be devolved upon the 
General Secretary. 

Nor was there anything encouraging in our 
past experience. Although local undertakings 
had prospered and creditable sums had been 
raised in some of the States to establish Insti- 
tutions of Learning, yet all attempts to raise 
money by and for the General Convention had 
simply humiliated us by their results. 

The first attempt to raise a fund by this 
body we find set forth in a resolution adopted 
at its Session in Swanzey, N. H., held in 1801. 
It is as follows : 



"Resolved, That a fund be raised by such 
ways and means as may hereafter be devised ; 
the amount of such fund is to supply the wants 
of Brothers sent forth to preach, to aid in the 
printing of useful books, and to answer all such 
charitable purposes as the Convention may 
judge proper." 

A Serious objection was made to this move- 
ment on the ground that such a fund might be- 
come an engine of ecclesiastical despotism. 

At the next Session the Report of the Treas- 
urer showed that no response whatever had 



8 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



been made. The call was reiterated, and the 
disbursement of the money so guarded as to 
meet the objections urged. At the memorable 
Winchester Session, held in 1803, it was found 
that of the forty societies then in fellowship, 
only fourteen had responded, the total amount- 
ing to $32.03 1-2. 

Such is the history of our first attempt at 
money raising ; and from that time to the 
opening of our Centenary movement, embrac- 
ing a period of nearly seventy years, during 
which, as a Church, we have grown from forty 
Societies and twenty-two Ministers, to one 
thousand Societies and six hundred Ministers, 
with more than an equal per centage of in- 
crease in wealth, I do not suppose that, all told, 
the Convention had raised one tenth of the 
sum now proposed as the work of a single 
year. And when we take into consideration 
that this Central Fund was to come from the 
pockets of a people who were expected to con- 
tribute at least eight hundred thousand dollars 
more for local purposes, it is not surprising that 
I should consider it an undertaking of no mean 
magnitude. But the exigency demanded that 
some one should take the field, and I did not 
feel warranted in refusing the call. And I may 
here be permitted to say that — thanks to the 
preparation made by my predecessor by his in- 
defatigable labors and his brave strong words 
— the earnest co-operation of the President — 
the constant and consecrated application of the 
Permanent Secretary, and the chairman of the 
Committee on Missionary army — the courtesy 
and kindness of every member of the Board — 
the ability and efficiency of our denominational 
Press, of which too much cannot be said in 
praise — the prompt support of nearly all our 
ministers and the Centenary zeal which has 
burned in the hearts of the people, many diffi- 
culties have been smoothed and my work has 
been rendered comparatively pleasant. 

While the results at this stage of our under- 
taking are not up to the maximum of our 
wishes, I am happy to say they are encouraging, 
being as a whole creditable to the liberality of 
our people, and equal at least to my expecta- 
tions. 

THE PROJECTED WORK OF THE YEAR. 

By vote of the Convention and resolutions of 
the Centenary Committee, endorsed by the 
Board, the Centenary work was made to em- 
brace the payment of Church debts, building 



and improving parsonages, establishment and 
endowment of Schools and Colleges, together 
with the raising of a memorial fund of two hun- 
dred thousand dollars to be known as the Mur- 
ray Centenary Fund. All money raised for 
denominational purposes outside of current 
church expenses was to be regarded as Cen- 
tenary offerings, it being accumulated denom- 
inational capital, and to be counted in the 
general aggregate. It was indicated that the 
sum of all these offerings ought to amount to 
one million dollars. This, then, is the objective 
point toward which we have been working. 
We have held from the beginning that to ac- 
complish this is success. 

METHODS AND MACHINERY. 

State Conventions were recognized as the 
sole constituency of the General Convention, 
and through them the canvass has been con- 
ducted. The plan of work contemplated the 
appointment of Financial Agents in all the 
States, to have in charge the several objects 
embraced in the Report of the Centenary Com- 
mittee. Missionary boxes, the receipts from 
which were to be incorporated in the Murray 
Fund, have been distributed under the immedi- 
ate direction of the Board, although to a con- 
considerable extent they have been placed in 
the hands of the people by agents of State Con- 
ventions. 

In addition to these instrumentalities the 
Women's Centenary Aid Association was in- 
stituted, having for its object the obtaining of 
at least one dollar from every Universalist 
woman in America. This organization has 
proved a powerful auxiliary and made for itself 
a splendid record. It has collected the sum of 
$21,029.24. Such was the machinery we re- 
solved to operate, leaning firmly upon the min- 
isters, who everywhere manifested warm sym- 
pathy and an unshaken determination to fur- 
ther our purpose. 

VISITS TO STATE CONVENTIONS. 

With a view of putting this machinery in 
motion I visited, early in the year, the States 
of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania, District of Columbia, New Hampshire, 
Vermont and Maine, meeting and consulting 
with the constituted denominational authorities 
in each state. I was kindly received every- 
where, and in all the States thus visited Finan- 
cial Agents were appointed, excepting Pennsyl- 
vania. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 9 

The -work in the last named State was de- The following is the statement of the Cen- 

livered over to me, but subsequently, and be- tenary work of the year 1870, which, it should 

fore I was ready for a canvass, said action was be remembered, is work accomplished outside 

reconsidered, and a State agent put into the of the current expenses of the denomination for 

field by appointment of the President of the Con- the year. 

vention. Of the States not visited, Massachu- Subscribed and paid for Murray Fund §102,228 

■vt "\r 1 i ivr* ^~+„ ™:*K rmn„t-r. Other Centenary offerings, wuich embrace Payment 

setts, ISew lork and Minnesota, with agents of Church debts, Building of Churches, Endow- 

appointed, were in harness for work before the ment of Schools and Colleges during the year : 846,309 

Centenary year opened. At an early day making a sum total of the years ^vork of $948,53 

Michigan and Iowa put each an agent in the This sum total embraces reports received 

field, Connecticut organized for the campaign, f,<om the various States, and those reports be- 

while Rhode Island, by a spontaneous impulse, ing in many particulars incomplete, it is cer- 

decided, without organization, to do its work tain when full returns are all in, the total will 

in a summary way. The result of this prelim- be considerably increased, 

inary work was the following amounts pledged It is proper to add to this statement, that 

for the Murray Fund. 25,500 Missionary Boxes have been manufac- 
tured and put into the hands of agents for dis- 

Maine §10,000 . r - - 

k ew Hampshire 6,000 trioution. Of these, 12.91 7 have been placed 

Gona^Acui^.\\\\\\\\\\'.\\\\\\'.'.''.\\\\\'.\'.'.'.'. b^OO i* 1 tne hands of the people. Returns have been 

Ke£ d r.S and 20 000 received & om l °> 0[) 7 boxes, giving an aggre- 

Pennsyivania gate of $10,380.81, and an average of $1.02 per 

Ohio 10,000 t 

Indiana 5,000 box. i or a more full statement, with returns 

Wi^nsin.' '. '...'.'.'.'. '^.'..... ....... '. '. . ! '. '. ...... 3,000 to tn ^ s branch of our work, I refer you to the 

Minnesota 5,000 report of the Committee on Missionary Army. 

§129,000 The States which have already made good 

In addition large sums were voted in Maine, their pledges by Subscription, are, Rhode Is- 

Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Mi- land > Connecticut, Minnesota and New York. 

nois and Wisconsin for educational and other Tbe State wh * lch has pledged and raised the 

local purposes. Vermont, Michigan and Iowa largest sum for the Murray Fund is Massachu- 

resolved through the Boxes, Women's Aid As- setts - The State wnidl has raised most for 

sociations, and°other instrumentalities, to raise educational purposes, is Ohio. The State 

the utmost possible for the Murray Fund, but which has raiscd most above its <l uota for the 

pledged no definite sum. Murray Fund, is Minnesota, that gallant young 

State in the Northwest, which, with true Prus- 

the canvass. s j an ener gy ? j n ^he space of three weeks, ended 

The Canvass was inaugurated and has been the Centenary campaign in a blaze of glory. 
conducted up to the present time by a series of The Individual who has made the largest 
Centenary meetings. A considerable propor- Centenary offering is a noble hearted citizen of 
tion of my own time and strength has been ex- Akron, Ohio, who has contributed thirty-one 
pended at such meetings. I have given sermons thousand dollars to Butchel Collge. 
and Centenary addresses bearing on our work, The large sum pledged by our people in so 
in Maine. New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode brief a time, not only indicates that our Church 
Island, New York, Pennsylvania, District of is one of large pecuniary resources and corn- 
Columbia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wis- mendable generosity, but a growing conviction 
consin and Minnesota, travelling 24,500 miles of its importance, and deepening confidence in 
to accomplish the same. its permanence, and the grandeur of its mission. 

I make the following statment of thefinan- Certainly, a Church that can add to its work- 

cial status of the denomination, which I deem ing capital in a single year, $948,537, must be 

of great importance to ourselves, and as an au- animated by an abiding faith that it ought to 

thoritative declaration to the world of the live, and an invincible determination that by 

strength and condition of our Church. divine help it shall live, until the end for which 

m . • ' . „ ^ *. nnn nnn it was called into existence is accomplished. 

The Church property of the Denomination §5,000 000 . x 

Ourrenc Expenses 6oO,COO The significance of this result is an anncunce- 

Property and Investments of Schools and Colleges, 2,000.000 tj.n-.ii 'u .i i. i j 

investments in Charities and Missions 85,000 ment to all the world that we are here and 



10 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



have come to stay. The financial results of 
the year also indicate that if in legislative wis- 
dom and executive energy the Convention shall 
prove itself equal to the disbursement of money 
for the extension of our Church so as to pro- 
duce visible results, the people will not fail to 
furnish the needed funds. 

MURRAY FUND. 

Of the Murray Fund of $200,000 to be 
raised within the Centenary year, I have to re- 
port that in the nine months of the year? al- 
ready past $135,000 has been pledged by in- 
dividuals and States. 

With yet three good months for work, it 
ought not to be difficult to achieve complete 
success. We should first urge upon the States 
the fulfillment of their pledges, and help them 
so to do. To those which, in consequence of 
pressing local demands, do not find it possible 
to make good their pledges at present, I would 
commend the example of Wisconsin as one 
worthy of imitation. It resolved to " raise all 
it possibly can during the year for the Murray 
Fund, toward what it has promised, and then 
pay interest on the remainder until it is raised." 
Let all the States take this course, and what 
has been pledged has been practically secured. 

But, after all the pledges are made good, to- 
gether with what we have over and above the 
pledges, we shall need at least sixty thousand 
dollars. How shall this be provided for? 
The Missionary of Minnesota gives the key for 
the solution of this difficulty. He says: "Al- 
though we are so far above what we have 
pledged, we are going to keep on raising mon- 
ey till January, 1871 ; and then, if the $200,- 

000 is not raised, let us know how much is our 
share of what is to be raised." A re-assess- 
ment is the only way I know of to surmount 
the obstacle presented. It should be made on 
a new basis. To make the quota of a Stale 
half the aggregate of what is paid for minis- 
ters' salaries, wifhout taking other circum- 
stances into consideration, has been found, on 
being tested, to be neither just nor practicable. 

1 would have a committee appointed, charged 
with the duty of surveying the whole field and, 
after giving every circumstance due considera- 
tion, making the assessment. I have faith to 
believe that no State would repudiate its quota 
when thus assigned. 

TOE FUTURE WORK OF THE BOARD. 

As money is placed in the hands of the 
Board, new responsibilities press upon it, and 



new and promising fields open for its opera- 
tions. With the Murray Fund raised and in- 
vested, that will unquestionably need a larger in- 
come than it will yield, to take good care of 
the vast interests which will be placed in its 
hands. How shall this money be obtained ? 
Evidently a perpetual canvass is not only im- 
practicable, but incompatible with the real 
work of the Convention. If it is to appear 
everywhere as the competitor of local under- 
takings, it will soon be voted by our people a 
clog and incumbrance rather than a help. I 
assume that it should stand as the friend and 
fosterer of local effort, appearing at e very- 
point of peril in the person of its agents, and 
by its moral support, at least, confirm the weak 
and rally the wavering. 

Its pecuniary dependence hereafter must be 
on what may be realized through the canvass 
of State Conventions (where they exist), and 
from the Missionary boxes. 

These boxes ought to be recognized as a 
perpetual institution and worked with system 
and vigor. 

I am confident that with the requisite effort 
they may be made to produce a permanent in- 
come of at least $15,000 per year. 

While in my opinion it will be found im- 
practicable for the Board, with the means 
which it will be likely to possess, to undertake 
the work of building churches, unless at great 
centers, and on territory outside the jurisdic- 
tion of a State Convention, (which work can 
always be much better done by local bodies,) 
the organization of unorganized territory and 
the education of Ministers should always be 
recognized as irs special charge. 

Missionary undertakings have been mainly 
laid aside during the past year on account of a 
lack of funds, and ihe pressure of other work ; 
but the interests of our cause in the States of 
Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, California and 
Oregon should receive the immediate attention 
of the Board, and the organization of at least 
one of the above named States, be made the 
special work of the ensuing year. 

But if our Church is to be extended, if unoc- 
cupied fields are to be occupied, the first and 
most pressing want will be found to be — more 
Ministers. Not only will it be found that we 
cannot grow, but we cannot hold the ground we 
now occupy without a marked accession to our 
ministerial strength. 

If the Board takes charge of the supplying 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



11 



of this want and furnishes the means for minis- 
terial education, it will find the first requisite 
to be, suitable persons to be educated. We 
have the schools and the money to aid those 
seeking an education, and now we want a 
largely increased number of students in train- 
ing for the Ministry. These we shall never 
have unless special effort is made to that end. 

By some efficient instrumentality suitable 
young persons should be sought out and, as 
far as possible, influences brought to bear to 
turn their attention to the Ministry. 

&" a systematic effort of this kind could be 
made in correspondence with our Pastors and 
Educators, while (ewer unfit men would seek 
to occupy our pulpits, we should find the work- 
ing power of our Ministry very greatly in- 
creased. 

In surveying the year's work, nothing will 
stir the true friend of our cause with such pro- 
found satisfaction as the moral results which 
will always stand out in conspicuous relief, as 
the crowning glory of our Centenary move- 
ment. Our splendid material gain is meagre, 
compared whh the morale we have acquired. 

We have made marked progress in acquiring 
unity and defixdteness of purpose. We have 



learned what strength there is in a common 
rallying cry and united action. 

There are ample indications that we are 
soon to have not only a Universalist denomina- 
tion, but a Universalis Church, which shall 
move to its purpose, as a compact and harmo- 
nious body, with the fiber and spiritual heart 
to ensure success. We have made a demon- 
stration, which, while it has lifted us into a 
new prominence before the world, has also 
given us a knowledge of ourselves we did not 
before possess, imparting an increased confi- 
dence and a larger faith. Whether we achieve 
all we anticipate, remains to be seen ; but the 
blessedness of giving cannot be taken from 
us. 

Emerging from the effort of this memorable 
year with a new baptism, we should profoundly 
thank God for his mercies, and as our anthem 
of rejoicing is raised at our Centenary Jubilee, 
with the thrilling associations and memories 
with which it will be freighted, it should sig- 
nify the pledge of a new consecration and the 
earnest of grander triumphs in the luture. 

Asa Saxe, 
General Secretary. 



Keport on the State of tlie Church. 



To the General Convention of Universalists: 

Brethren : — Your Committee are com- 
pelled to begin this report as almost every one 
lias begun, with a regret that the denomination 
has no statistics worth the name. An attempt 
was made to form for this paper some estimate 
of our comparative numerical condition in 
years recently passed ; but the first step 
showed that the returns, where any had been 
made, were made without a fixed method, and 
were quite unfit for instructive comparison. 
The difficulty probably lies in the absence of 
any general system of parish records ; and we 
would suggest that some simple form of record- 
book be prepared, uniform for the whole coun- 
try, and furnished to pastors at the lowest pos- 
sible cost. The general use of such books 
would, probably, in a few years, give us statis- 
tics that might be usefully studied and col- 
lated. 

Still, we have not felt that the absence of a 
uumeiical report would be fatal to the useful- 
ness of this document. The life and growth 



of the Church is not to be estimated by num- 
bers, but by the more real, though perhaps less* 
tangible evidence of spiritual activity and 
Christian fruit. We beg leave, therefore, to 
report, perhaps a little at length, wdiat seems to 
us to be the present position and efficiency of 
the Universalist Church. 

The most striking feature of the last decade 
of our first century, has been a tendency to or- 
ganize. On all hands we see efforts to em- 
body in institutions and gather in focal points 
of activity all the light and energy of our faith. 
The labors of three generations were mainly 
consumed in giving birth and opportunity to a 
mass of Universalist believers. Very few par- 
allels can be found in Christian history, to the 
looseness with which our predecessors were 
bound together by any other ties than the fact 
of a common belief. And this condition was 
sought and cherished. The great battle of 
controversy, resulting in the conquest of room 
to dwell and leave to act — in the granting, at 
least, of belligerent rights, if not of recognized 



12 



UNIVERSAL! ST CENTENARY, 



equality in the religious world, were fought by 
men who stood each for himself, and who did 
not greatly care to form any closer compact 
with each other than that of common devotion 
to the same great cause 

But with a comparatively slackened pies 
sure from without, and a growing sense of 
great conquests achieved, and great responsi- 
bilities attending them, has come to all our 
body a sense of the looseness with which we 
have been hitherto connected, and a desire for 
some new system of organization, which shall 
better consolidate and direct our immense but 
scattered strength. The position is exactly 
analogous to that of our country after the Rev- 
olution ; and the existing tendency exactly 
corresponds to that which achieved the Con- 
stitution. 

Now while this tendency conspicuously dis- 
plays itself in educational institutions and en- 
dowments, in efforts to give greater regularity 
to the constitution of societies, and in the con- 
centration of ecclesiastical authority in the 
State Conventions and the General Conven- 
tion, it also displays no less energy and quite 
as promising results in the operations of the 
Church. 

Our order has never been wholly unmindful 
of the deeper facts of religious experience. 
The faithfulness of our fathers' labors and the 
large success accorded them, alike prove that 
they leaned on the Almighty arm and won the 
Divine approval. But it is no wonder if in 
the stress of outward attack and defense, they 
were little led to examine those secret processes 
of spiritual communion by which they were all 
the while sustained. No man can accuse our 
pioneers of having been weak in faith or irrev- 
erent in spirit ; but they may be said — and 
considering their circumstances without re- 
proach — to have attached but secondary im- 
portance to these ordinances and institutions 
by which the feelings are enlisted in the ser- 
vice of Christ, and the heart is brought into 
conscious, as well as close communion, with 
its Saviour. 

But now the character of our relations is es- 
sentially changed, and we need much less to 
combat, and much more to cultivate ; the 
hearts of our people far and wide turn toward 
the Church, with its sanctions and its ordi- 
nances. We feel the need not only of per- 
sonal growth and consecration, but also of 
united effort in this direction. We find that 



those secret experiences of the soul, which in 
their last refinement are absolutely incommuni- 
cable, and must remain the hidden mystery of 
each heart, yet crave the indulgence of sympa- 
thy with those of like experience, and by that 
sympathy are made clearer and more assured. 
And so the organizing tendency which pervades 
all the efforts of the denomination, forming al- 
liance with the religious feeling, impels large 
numbers of our people toward the Church. 

The evidence of this great and recent move- 
ment is seen in the increasing importance at- 
tached to baptism, to the public pledge of 
Christian faith in every form,' to the dedication 
of children, to the eucharist, to prayer-meet- 
ings, and to those pulpit ministrations which 
steadfastly aim to purify men's hearts, and en- 
noble their lives by filling them with the un- 
searchable riches of Christ. 

Such then, in our view, is the present atti- 
ude of the Universalist Church. It has newly 
awakened to the exceeding value of those 
means of grace which it has always possessed 
and never entirely failed to use. The people 
ask for the bread from heaven. Disposed by 
their education, and scarcely forbidden by the 
growing sentiment of the world to hold the 
cardinal doctrines of our theology, they seek to 
make them nutritious and delightful to their 
hearts ; and for help in this endeavor they nat- 
urally turn to the ordinances of the Church. 

Let us now consider how well fitted these 
institutions are, in their existing form, to an- 
swer this new demand. 

In a fair degree, the Church, as it stands or 
ganized to-day, has met the demaud. Its ordi- 
nances have been found capable of expressing 
far more than they once expressed, and the spir- 
it of its earlier years proves fully harmonious 
with the intenser religious spirit of our time. 
We desire to bear hearty and willing testimony 
to the manifold comforting and ennobling min- 
istrations which the Universalist Church has- 
bestowed upon her children, in both the near 
and distant past. We find nothing to rebuke, 
and very much reverently to admire and love 
And yet your Committee must proceed to 
point out how the enlarging demands of the 
day seem to call for measures which may give 
enlarged authority and power to the Church, 

There has been a disposition, not by any 
means yet extinct, to dread any large growth 
of emotional religion among our people, as lead- 
ing away from a rational theology, and opening 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



13 



a door to pietism or priestcraft. But the past 
seems to guarantee us against such dangers. 
Organized bodies of men are slow to lose the 
impress of the conditions which first drew 
them together; and few principles are more 
fundamental in Universalist belief than that the 
relations of man to his Maker are essentially- 
reasonable and informal. We do not conceive 
that an intelligent Universalist could be found 
who does not believe that all religious forms 
are in themselves absolutely indifferent, and 
committed wholly to the conscientious judg- 
ment of those who use them. This is proved 
by the great variety of forms used in all the 
offices of our Church ; each society, or even 
each minister, feeling entirely at liberty to 
choose any existing ceremonial, or to devise a 
new one. With such a strong original instinct 
of liberty in the expression of our devotion, we 
seem secure from any danger of an exces- 
sive ritualism, and quite free to consider 
whether we may not have allowed our worship 
to run to the other extreme of coldness and 
scanty significance. 

We think two defects in the methods and for- 
malities of the Universalist Church can be 
pointed out : — First, an almost general lack 
of heartiness and amplitude in our customary 
mode of public worship and religious obser- 
vance ; and, Second, a want of uniformity in 
the ministrations of different churches. 

The first defect is felt by many sensitive per- 
sons, and goes not a little way towards account- 
ing for the alienation of many young people 
from our communion. A large class of wor- 
shippers feel far more than they can express or 
clearly conceive ; and such natures long to find 
somewhere provided expressions for their relig- 
ous emotions, better than they can themselves 
devise. Moreover, where such a want is not 
felt, there often exists the unrecognised need of 
the educational influence which such forms 
might exert, wakening new fervor in the wor- 
shipper's heart by the very fervor of the wor- 
ship in which he is invited to participate. 
Just in this way our Master bids us pray, " for- 
give us our debts as we forgive our debtors ;" 
not because we habitually do forgive our debt- 
ors, but because He would have the prayer He 
bids us repeat suggest the spirit in which we 
ought to pray. 

The second want hardly needs explanation. 
"Whoever has sometimes attended the services 
of churches not familiar to him, has noticed 



how the novelty of strange forms distracts the 
attention, and how they lack for a while the pow- 
er he is used to feel in the prayers and praises 
of his spiritual home. Nothing has so endeared 
the Episcopal Church to her children, as the 
uniformity of her service. Many passages in 
the book of Common Prayer which cannot bear 
a moment's criticism, and would not be accepted 
if now newly proposed, are yet dear to those to 
whom they come hallowed by the sanctity, 
and perfumed by the incense, of unnumbered 
hours of worship. 

We think, then, that the power of our 
Church over the hearts and lives of our people 
would be greatly augmented by the use of a 
ritual, simple, uniform, and fervent, — a ritual 
that would receive the infant in consecration 
from its parent's arms, should train him for 
Christian manhood, welcome him into the com- 
munion of faithful souls, and tenderly meet 
him at every crisis of his life, — ennobling his 
devotion uttering the longings of his heart, 
soothing his sorrows, sanctifying his joys, and 
singing over his grave at last its hopeful and' 
triumphant requiem. 

To the question which immediately arises,. 
" How shall this be obtained ? ' it is not easy 
to answer. All thought of adopting, or even 
of adapting any existing ritual, is certainly 
out of the question. The desired ends of such 
forms can only be reached when they are the 
healthy growth and expression of the pop- 
ular heart. A Universalist ritual, therefore, 
must not only conform in its utterances and its 
faintest suggestions to Universalist theology, 
but it must also correspond to the average taste 
cultivation, and habits of thought among our 
people. And what they are no man can at 
once decide. While, therefore, we suggest the 
need and hint at the nature of a more elabor- 
ate body of forms, we do not urge the attempt 
to give hasty and forced authority to any par- 
ticular 'system, old or new. We rather aim by 
the suggestion to attract general attention and 
stimulate thought ; hoping that little by little, 
that which lies deep in many hearts may find 
or make for itself a way of utterance, and the 
common desire at last embody itself in a com- 
mon service of praise aud worship. 

Finally, to recapitulate, the report which 
your committee have to make concerning the 
state of the Church at the close of our first 
century, is briefly this : Our Church is growing 
with all the energy of vigorous and undevel- 



14 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



oped youth. Our people, measurably secure of 
their outward position, are turning anew their 
hearts towards Christ, striving not only to ap- 
prehend the glory of His truth, but to feel his 
power and enter into his salvation. And this 
new endeavor reveals to us at once the ample 
sufficiency of that divine faith which has blest 
so many souls and sanctified so many lives, and 
the insufficiency of any symbols we have yet 
attained to represent to others or ourselves the 
boundless riches of the grace of God. 



May the coming century behold our Church 
grow stronger, year by year, in the number of 
her children, in the fervor of her utterance and 
above all, in the profound conviction that all 
her hope and all her power rest on our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, without whom we 
can do nothing-. 



J. Smith Dodge, Jr., 
J. W. White, 
H. L. Hayward. 



Report of the Coimnitee on Education, 



To the General Convention of Universalists: — 
The Committee to whom was assigned the 
duty of presenting the subject of education at 
this session, c dl the attention of the Conven- 
tion to three particulars : 1. what we have. 
2. what we have done. 3. WHAT we 

OUGHT TO DO. 

1. What we have. Under this we enumer- 
ate, not only the institutions already estab- 
lished, but those also whose existence is secure, 
and whose equipment for service in our ranks 
will not long be postponed. 
Colleges. 

Lombard University, Galesburg, Knox 
County, Illinois. Established A. D. 1852, un- 
der the name of Illinois Institute, and changed 
to its present name A. D. 1856. Buildings and 
grounds worth $60,000 ; real and personal prop- 
erty $100,000. Library 4,000 vols. Cabinet 
and apparatus sufficient for class instruotion. 

St. Lawrence University, Canton, St. 
Lawrence Co. , N. Y. Has three departments : 
Collegiate, Theological and Law ; the last es- 
tablished A. D. 1866. Total asset; of the 
University, $153,150. Value of Buildings, 
Chapel and Library (6,000 vols.)$28,000. 

Tufts College, College Hill, Mass. Es- 
tablished A. D. 1854. Total assets about 
$900,000. Value of lands and buildings, $210,- 
000. ' Library, Cabinets, Apparatus, $20,000. 

Smithson College, Logansport, Indiana. 
Assets, including subscriptions, monies, and 
bequests, $55,000. Lands, twelve acres, $5,- 
0i»0. The main College building was put un- 
der contract August 8, 1870. Will be open for 
students in the Fall of 1871. 

Buciitel College, Akron, Ohio. Named 
in honor of John It. Buchtel, Esq,, to whose 
munificence the institute owes its existence. 



Assets, including subscriptions and lands, 
$85,000. The central college Building will 
probably be commenced before the ciose of this 
centenary year. 

Academies. 

Clinton Liberal Institute, Clinton, 
Oneida County, N. Y. 

Established A. D. 1821. Estimated value 
of Buildings and Grounds, $52,000. Fund, 
$10,000. Library, 1625 vols. 

Westbrook Seminary and Female Col- 
legiate Institute^ Stevens Plains, Maine. 
Incorporated A. D. 1831. School opened A. 
D. 1834. 

Beside the Seminary Building the Institution 
owns two brick Boarding Halls, known as the 
Goddard and Hersey Halls, a dining Hall con- 
necting the two, a Chapel, and one-third of a 
Church which cost $15,000. Permanent fund, 
$30,000. 

Estimated value of Buildings and Grounds, 
$80,000. New and valuable apparatus. 

Green Mountain Institute, South 
Woodstock, Vt. 

Established, A- D. 1848. Assets in Heal Es- 
tate and Funds, $12,000. Owns an Academy 
Building, built of wood, and a brick boarding 
house. 

Dean Academy, Frank'in, Mass. Chart- 
ered A. D. 1865. Unproductive property; 
Buildings, Grounds, Furniture, Apparatus &c., 
Funds, $84,000. Debt, $10,000. 

Jefferson Liberal Institute, Jefferson, 
Wis. Chartered, A. D. 1806. School Building 
erected, A. D. 1869, Cost of Building, $32,000 
Debt, $10,000. 

Green Mountain Central Instiiute, 
Barre, Vt. Chartered, A. D. 1833. Building 
commenced, A. D. 1366. School opened, A. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



15 



D." 1870. Cost of Building, $72,000. Debt, 
810,000. 

The school in Glover, Vt. is, we suppose, 
still under the patronage of Universalists. We 
have failed to receive a notice of it. 

Theological Schools. 

Canton Theological School, Canton, 
N. Y. 

Tufts College Divinity School, College 
Hill, Mass. 

From the above survey it -will be seen that 
as a Cbureh we own five Colleges, seven Acad- 
emies, and two Theological Schools, represen- 
tin" - nearly two million dollars. 

II. What we have done. Jn the first 
place, all that we have in the line of education- 
al facilities, is the result of a few years work. 
Thirty years ago, instituted Universalism knew 
very little of schools To-day they are planted 
in nearly every great division of our country. 
Lombard University drains the best intellect of 
our Church in the West. St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity is a constant invitation to the affection 
and generosity of our people in the Middle 
States. Tufts College is a center of inlluence 
in New Fngland, and sheds its light over our 
entire Ziou ; Smithson College makes a fresh 
appeal to our friends in a region where our 
cause is weak, and will reward the sacrifices, 
not only of the nobb woman who endowed it 
with her wealth, but of all who foster its growth • 
Buchlel College is a brilliant promise and will 
invite the Scholarship and feed the life of our 
Church in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, 
especially appealing to the sympathy and hos- 
pitality of the City which has so munificently 
welcomed it in the person of one of her most 
gified Citizens ; Westbroolc Seminary is worthy 
of the State which it adorns, worthy the great 
cause it represents, and an honor to the rare 
type of Christian character which guards its 
life ; Clinton Institute is a standing pledge that 
Universalist Christianity will not die out of a 
soil which has been enriched by the tillage of 
so many saintly men ; Jefferson Liberal Insti- 
tute puts forth the fresh vigor of youth to win 
converts to our faith in one of the finest sec- 
tions of this land. The Green Mountain Insti- 
tute is more than a memory to her children who 
now grace so many exalted stations ; increas- 
ing lines of interest from Southern and West- 
ern New England converge upon that noble 



monument to a good man's forecast and benev- 
olence — Dean Academy; and our whole 
Church gives to the Green Mountain Central 
Institute that salutation which means success. 
Located at the heart of a glorious Stale, the 
pulses of its life can but be wideiy felt. 

Now to have planted and protected the 
growth of these institutions is something done. 

Then aside from the direct work which has 
been accomplished through these schools — the 
thousands they have instructed, the hundreds 
graduated — there is the new T sentiment they 
have awakened, almost created, among our peo- 
ple, in favor of sound learning, and a generous 
culture. We begin to see that the point of 
sympathy between teacher and taught, preach- 
er and hearer, parent and child, is not a com- 
mon ignorance, but that the wisest mind is the 
one that can best adapt itself to the lowest 

Our schools, too, challenge the faculties of our 
youth. They suggest the loftier, richer mind 
which may be reached ; they move the nobler 
ambitions ; they give polarity to desires, pur- 
poses which else would be aimless. 

Nor is this all. Every school we establish 
is a direct appeal to the thought and generosity 
of our churches ; helps give direction to benev- 
olence, and form to the growing spirit of sacri- 
fice amongst us. Indeed we are in little dan- 
ger of overestimating the work our schools 
have done, and are now doing, in quickening 
and moulding the life of our people. 

111. What we ought to do — The aim of 
the Commitee in this brief paper has been to 
preserve the cast and color of a report ; and 
we feel that we shall not depart from this de- 
sign bv giving; a few hints concerning the work 
of the future. What is the great duty of 
American Universalists with respect to educa- 
tion V To us, it seems the immediate duty lies 
in the direction of our instituted work, and 
the schools which already exist. Multiply col- 
leges and academies as the needs of the cause 
demand, and the wisdom of our leaders devis- 
es ; let them grow up here and there at centers 
where our faith is little known, even, and 
where noble souls are moved to endow and pro- 
tect them ; seek and select the fortunate local- 
ities in new States and Territories, and build 
as we are able ; push our enterprises so long 
as any frontier bounds our advances, but plant 
no sch )ol that we do not mean to feed and 
nourish into complete proportions : and pause 
before any new undertakings, when it is evi- 



16 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



dent that those to which we are now pledged, 
are languishing. 

It is the opinion of your Commitee that the 
great need is a more liberal endowment of ex- 
isting institutions, and ampler furniture with 
which to effect the end we have in view, viz. : 
an educated Clergy and an educated Laity. 
We have set ourselves to this work with some- 
thing of method; and we ought to be wis 3 
enough to see that we shall pass into history 
with the burden of sickly schools upon us, unless 
we brace their life with our money, and fill them 
with the sustaining breath of sympathy. 
Take the best College we have, the one that 
is the most generously environed by denomin- 
ational loyalty, and it needs this very hour a 
million dollars with which to erect new build- 
ings dedicated resqectively to Science, to Let- 
ters, and to Religion ; to provide fresh facili- 
ties in all the higher departments of study ; 
and to endow other Chairs of instruction. 
Nothing in the line of iustrumentalities would 
so increase our power as a Church, like a com- 
plete endowment of our Schools. History 
shows that denominations live by their institu- 
tions: and the impressive fact for us to ponder 
is, that this is true only as the institutions are 
invested with strength. To do us any good, 
our Colleges and Academies must show sisjns of 
growth and this they will never do unless 
they are fed by the continual favor of our peo- 
ple. Another duty, second only in point of 
time, to the character of our Institutions and 
the quality of their work. Our best educators 
cannot be said to favor what is called the New 
Education. They adhere to the fixed, uniform, 
and classical curriculum, as distinguished from 
that which makes College studies largely elec- 
tive. They believe that the prescribed course 
in which the Classics and Mathematics are proni- 
nent, is the one best fitted to train a man to 
know himself and the world ; to give what 
Milton calls the " complete and generous educa- 
tion, that fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, 
and magnanimously, all the offices, both public 
and private ;" and yet they are alive to the fact 
that instruction should be intellectual and wide ■ 
reaching ; that there should be, not less drill- 
work in the preparatory school, and during the 
first years in college, but more logical and aes- 
thetic analysis, and psychological disipline in 
all the departments, and at every stage of intel- 
lectual success. The Committee, therefore, all 
the more confidently urge the point that our 



schools should have a character of their own, 
and vindicate their right to existence and pat- 
ronage, not merely because Universalist money 
endowed and a particular Church order controls 
them, but because what is most radical and for- 
mative in our noble faith pervades and 
strengthens them. Not that we would convert 
our halls of learning into moral lecture- rooms 
for the explanation of the precise tenets of 
Christian Universalism, and the illustration of 
our doctrinal ideas ; but we would fill and en- ' 
circle our Institutions with the spirit of the re- 
ligion we profess. We insist that there should 
be peculiarities of basis and superstructure, o 
priuciple and method ; and that these should 
color the organic life of our schools, fashion 
our instruments, appear in our methods, and 
give tone to instruction. Precisely what these 
peculiarities should be, and how show them- 
selves, we may not be wise enough to suggest, 
even if it were right to do so in this report. 
We simply believe that there is vitality enough 
in our idea to shape a distinctive Church or- 
der, and give a distinctive educational purpose. 
The very idea of Christianity which we hold 
makes it educational, and the very end which 
it contemplates, the birth of character. And 
because we maintain that all American schools 
should be religious aud Christain, Ave think we 
are only consistent when we plead that the 
schools of our own Church should stand 
for the type of Christianity which we believe 
and that their methods should be informed, an- 
imated, by its spirit. Let intellectual culture 
be the direct object of our Institutions of learn- 
ing, and let all their arrangments be directed 
to this immediate aim, and, at the same time, 
let our views of Religion so temper the culture 
that they will stimulate, refine, and elevate it. 

Summary. 

I. What we have. Five Colleges, seven 
Preparatory Schools, and two Theological 
Schools, with assets amounting in all to about 
two million dollars, and an attendance of two 
thousand pupils, more or less. 

II. What we have done. Our Schools 
are the outgrowth of our Church, and a sign of 
its vitality. Our people have been roused to 
consider the relation of education to our cause ; 
our youth have been stimulated to new endeav- 
ors after the highest culture ; and a spirit of 
generosity and sacrifice has been quickened in 
all our hearts. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



17 



III. What we ought to do. Plant new 
schools especially preparatory schools. Be ag- 
gressive ; but forget not that the immediate 
duty is the complete endowment and equip- 
ment of existing Institutions. Give them a 
distinctive character, improve their methods, 
and let them embody and express what is most 
central and vital in our religion, 

One thought we have postponed. The re- 
current demand, more urgent to-day than ever 
before, is for Pastors and Preachers. The Com- 
mittee urge the importance of a work, there- 
fore, which must begin in the Churches, in the 
Sunday Schools, in our homes, most of all in 
our hearts. Let prayer go up from all our 
altars, that the Lord of the harvest will send 
laborers into his field ; and that he will raise 



up friends of theological learning in all our bor- 
ders : that he will endue our Pastors and 
Teachers with wisdom and grace ; that he will 
so guide our youth that many will walk in his 
way and learn to love his work ; and that, 
while our hearts so flame upwards in supplica- 
tion, he will unite the hands of our people in 
some consecrated endeavor in behalf of the 
Gospel ministry. 

The Committee close their report with a 

deepened sense of our entrusted work as Uni- 

versalists, and the large share our Church 

must have in the best life of the next century. 

Respectfully submitted, 



C. H. Leonard, 
J. S. Lee, 
A. Knowles, 



•nard, ") 

LES, ) 



Committee. 



Report of Sunday School Committee. 



To the General Convention of Universalists in 
the United States of America, the Committee 
of :8G9-70, on Sunday Schools, would respect- 
fully report : 

According to your By-Laws, it is the duty 
of this Committee to " report with reference 
to the best methods of management and in- 
struction, and of increasing the numbers and 
usefulness of such Schools, and generally any 
matters of interest connected with the sub- 
ject." Taking these directions as their Table 
of Contents, the Committee of 1870 will com- 
mence with reference to methods. 

I. — OF MANAGEMENT AND INSTRUC- 
TION. 

Preliminary and essential to success, in this 
regard, is 

(1.) organization. 

The Sunday School is generally regarded as 
a department or branch of the Church organi- 
zation, which, as its parental head, is ever 
responsible for its condition, and expected to 
exercise over it a watchful care. This will 
lead to the regular appointment of an advisory 
committee, from the members of the Church 
or Society, to form the medium of communi- 
cation between the Church and Sunday 
School; to the setting aside of convenient 
apartments for the use of the School and the 
allowance of ample time for its sessions out- 
side of that appropriated to the regular (adult) 



services; to the supply of the necessary 
officers, teachers, and apparatus ; to the help- 
ful mingling of the Pastor in its affairs ; to the 
provision of a place in the Church for the 
teachers and scholars during divine worship ; 
and the honorable recognition of the School 
by the Church society on all occasions. More 
and more, from year to year, is being de- 
manded of Societies and Churches by the 
Schools; and the justice of the demand is 
being more and more fully recognized. Some 
schools there are, indeed, which have no 
society connection, and which nourish in their 
orphanage ; but it will hardly be denied that 
they will be stronger when they shall come to 
have societies or churches over them. 

The Legislative authority pertaining to the 
management of the Sunday School is, prefer- 
ably, vested in a society composed of those 
persons wiio are actively engaged in its work. 
Such an association, united under a simple 
constitution, need meet for business, but four 
or five times in the year, provided the ordinary 
details of its affairs can be delegated to a 
faithful executive committee. 

The direct management of the school is 
given to a Superintendent, who, in a large 
school, should have Assistant Officers. The 
Superintendents, with a Treasurer, Secretary 
and Librarian, constitute the Executive Com- 
mittee in many Schools. 

The immediate administration of discipline 
and instruction is delegated to the teachers, 



18 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENAET. 



who have under their charge a limited number 
of scholars. The old complaints continue, on 
the one hand, that teachers do not appreciate 
their responsibility ; that many of them are 
irreg'ilar in attendance upon the sessions, and 
careless as to preparation for their duties ; 
and, on the other, that so few of the church 
and society members are willing- to take the 
position of teacher. The system in vogue 
depends entirely upon gratuitous services, and 
the laborers will, therefore, in many localities, 
be few. No one of good moral character and 
willing to learn as well as to teach, will be 
likely to lack employment in a School with 
whose general purposes his or her belief is in 
conformity. Much of the material resulting 
from such a rule of selection will be made 
available only by normal training. Indeed, 
the best of teachers and superintendents will 
be improved by it. Teachers' institutes and 
normal classes are coming to be looked upon 
as essential features in an efficient system ; 
and weekly meetings of the teachers, to pre- 
pare, with mutual aid, for the duties of the 
following Sunday, are more generally, than 
ever before, recognized as necessary to suc- 
cess. The duties of the teacher are well un- 
derstood not to be limited to the school-room 
and session, but to involve the exercise of 
those influences which can be brought to bear 
by home visitation and the formation of an 
intimate acquaintance with the pupil. 

Such is an outline of the most approved 
plan of organization, as your Committee find 
it. As to 

(2.) GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 

The following prominent points are observ- 
able : 

The place for holding the Sessions of the 
School should be conveniently situated with 
reference to the homes of the members, but 
as close as may be to the place of public wor- 
ship of tnc Society or Church with which the 
School is connected. Much attention is being 
paid to the provision of light, airy and com- 
fortably furnished rooms fur Sunday School 
purposes; and special attractions, in the way 
of flowers, fountains, pictures, illuminations, 
banners, etc., are more than ever in vogue. 

The time for holding the sessions should be 
so appointed as to avoid, on the one hand, 
hurry in the conduct of the exercises, and, on 
the other, conflict with church engagements. 
The plan of holding two sessions each Sab- 
bath, is eminently advisable in view of the 
fact that many children will, if they have op- 



portunity, attend an afternoon and morning 
session, which, if not of Schools of the same 
denomination, will tend to neutralize and stul- 
tify each other's teachings. 

The regular exercises consist universally of 
a short opening and closing devotional ser- 1 
vice, with an interval for class lessons. They 
are varied by singing, general questioning, 
and addresses. The occasional, perhaps 
monthly, introduction of a session of exclu- 
sively general exercises (concerts) is useful 
as breaking up monotony, which is especially 
tiresome to children. A similar effect recom- 
mends anniversaries, exhibitions, excursions, 
etc., held upon week days or evenings. 

All are eligible to Sunday School member- 
ship, and it is the emulation of the day to 
more widely and effectively advertise Schools 
and provide, in them, attractions and helps for 
every age, disposition and nationality. The 
heterogeneous composition thence resulting, 
renders good discipline a point most difficult 
of attainment; for, since the managers of 
schools are, to a large extent, forced to the 
adoption of expedients which have reference 
to the option of the pupils it involves : the 
adaptation of all general exercises to gain the 
interested attention of various ages, disposi- 
tions and grades of intelligence ; careful class- 
ification ; and the selection of the requisite 
number of teachers, who shall have that just 
mingling of love and authority, that alertness 
and tact, which are necessary to maintain 
general order and carry out, fully, class pur- 
poses. To how great an extent rewards and 
punishments should be devised to aid in this 
respect, and in securing punctual attendance, 
is becoming even a less settled question than 
formerly. Libraries and periodicals are, on 
all hands, esteemed legitimate means. Costly 
presents and rewards are less used, and some 
Schools decline to offer arbitrary inducements 
of any kind. How far a merit system is injuri- 
ous to the sense of moral obligation of chil- 
dren has not been determined within the ex- 
perience of your Committee ; but that, with a 
degree of care and attention to details, a 
system can be carried on without any notably 
bad results, and with a decided effect in in- 
creasing interest, one of its members can tes- 
tify. He would state, however, that the ex- 
perience of a School with which he is con- 
nected has pretty fully determined that it is 
inexpedient to offer rewards for negatively 
good behavior. Let bad behavior be reproved 
when it comes, but do not, by expressed an- 
ticipation, allow children to suspect a fear 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



19 



that rules of order will be broken or decorum 
violated. 

The keeping of faithful records is a matter 
which should uot be neglected by school man- 
agers. ."Minutes of proceedings, registers of 
teachers and scholars, numerical data of the 
attendance upon each session, should be con- 
tinuously and accurately preserved. 

Passing from matters which, though of 
vital importance, are but accessory and sub- 
servient to the main purpose of the Sunday 
School, your Committee would next inquire 
as to the advance, if any, that has been made 
in the methods and means of Sunday Schools. 

(3.) INSTRUCTION. 

Late years have witnessed many varying 
experiments in this line, which have resulted 
in some important permanent changes. The 
direction of attempted improvements has 
been towards what is now, in very many 
schools, adopted under the name of the uni- 
form lesson. This system gives one and the 
same Scripture lesson to each scholar in the 
School for any given session, adapting it, 
through the offices of the teachers, to the 
varying ages and capacities. Loug ago it was 
denounced as folly to employ a teacher's time 
in eliciting different recitations from each 
scholar in the class : and it was strongly re- 
commended, by the experienced, that but one 
text-book be used in any one class, and that 
the scholars should be kept on the same 
lesson, by assigning bright ones some extra 
Scriptural or other outside task, and spurring 
the dull and lazy to increased effort. There 
can be no question as to the improvement 
which this recommendation has effected, even 
when we recognize in it the germ of the Uni- 
form Lesson System, which undoubtedly pre- 
sents such decided advantages as these : — 

1. It admits of a programme of studies 
whereby teachers, scholars and parents may 
certainly know what subjects are to be con- 
sidered at given dates, thus assisting the 
memory of irregular attendants. 

2. It affords peculiar facilities for prepara- 
tion. Pastor, officers and teachers may help 
each other to the best advantage in its use. 
Teachers' meetings become especially helpful. 
Parents and adult relatives may assist the 
children at home, and, at the same time, be 
preparing for their own duties, if they are 
teachers in the school. Children may assist 
each other. All, having the same subject 
under consideration, and vying to contribute 



to the general fund of information, receive 
direct and reflex benefits. 

3. It economizes time, not only in the 
preparation of the lesion, but in conducting 
the recitations. 

4. It affords constant opportunity for gen- 
eral questioning and reviews. 

5. It utilizes the Pastor and Superintend- 
ent, lifting them from their former respective 
positions of speech-maker and " time-keeper" 
to the important office of General Teacher. 

6. It facilitates the management of the 
School. The classes of absent teachers may 
recite to others without serious loss. Teach- 
ers and scholars may be transferred from one 
class to another without inconvenience. 

7. It saves money, since it enables teachers 
of every capacity to administer the lesson 
directly from the Bible, thus dispensing with 
the necessity of question books. 

Combining, thus, so much that is desirable, 
it is not wonderful that this system is 
received with generally increasing favor on 
all sides, nor that some of its enthusiastic 
admirers have been led to a more extensive 
generalization of its theory. A uniform les- 
son throughout all the schools of the country, 
and, perhaps, of the world, has been talked of, 
and a nearly unanimous attempt was at one 
time made by the various lesson publishers to 
unite with such a purpose, each house to give 
its own comments and questions in connec- 
tion with the uniform passages agreed upon. 
This gigantic scheme, promising, as it does, 
the advantages of a collation of the world's 
opinion on a passage of Scripture each week, 
seems, however, impracticable in view of the 
failure to secure agreement as to the selec- 
tions, an additional instance of which has 
occurred in the late experience of the Sunday 
School Helper, as detailed in the fourth num- 
ber of that journal: — 

"Wc have reluctantly been compelled to 
abandon our plan of using for our series of 
lessons the topics of the so called National 
Series. We have been led to this conclusion 
by the conviction, which has grown upon us, 
week by week, that the topics of that series 
are not, as a whole, those which are best cal- 
culated to present the truths of the Gospel 
as we understand them." 

Whether or not the Helper's reasons for 
abandoning the National Series were justly 
founded, the fact that the change was made is 
sufficient evidence that it will be impractica- 
ble to maintain a universal uniform series. 
We may hope, however, under the Helper's 



20 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



auspices, to have a uniform lesson throughout 
our own denomination. 

Your Committee wMl, in the course of this 
report, recommend the Uniform Lesson plan 
for general adoption, but they do not wish to 
be understood to unanimously endorse that 
system as one so fully adapted to the purpose 
of Sunday School instruction that it may be 
satisfactorily used to the exclusion of other 
methods. The incorrigible irregularity of 
teachers and scholars, and the brief time de- 
voted to study and the session, indeed, render 
the Uniform Lesson by far the best exclusive 
system known ; yet, as an exclusive system, 
it fails in one very important respect. It 
affords no facilities for conducting a logically 
connected course of study. It is of necessity 
desultory and repetitional. Its peculiar adap* 
tation to religious instruction is secured in 
the facts, that the texts and themes selected 
from the Scripture storehouse are of inex- 
haustible interest ; and that their applications 
are, with eminent propriety, to be enforced 
line upon line and precept upon precept. It 
must not, however, be lost sight of, that there 
is an order and harmony in the Divine econ- 
omy, which the great Text-book — made up, 
as it is, of the writings of various men of 
various times, mingling, as it does, history, 
poetry, philosophy, and prophecy — will but 
tardily discover to the youthful mind. The 
religious belief of every well-ordered intellect 
must be conceived to take the form of a 
logically connected system, which has been 
arrived at by the classifying power of the un- 
derstanding operating upon perceived truths j 
and such a system can foe expressed and 
taught, just as the sequences of arithmetic 
maybe educed from an ran trained mind; but 
each point in the system must be thoroughly 
mastered, seriatim, and each new student 
must begin at the beginning; and, thus, no 
uniformity, amid varying ages and capacities, 
can be retained. In other words : Of the 
t\vo distinguishable — though not distinct — 
purposes, in Sunday school work, to wit: 
(1.) Motive training (implanting of religious 
feeling) ; and (2.) The inculcation of correct 
theological views ; the former, and the more 
pressingly important, the Uniform Lesson is 
admirably adapted to fulfil; the latter, that 
system will accomplish very slowly and in a 
very uncertain manner. But the early com- 
mencement of such consistent theological 
training is not only an emphatic denomina- 
tional requirement, but is of high moral 
necessity in view of the fact that the shaping 



of motive and the operation of the will de- 
pend ultimately upon the degree of clearness 
of perception and correctness of belief. By 
these considerations, a member of your Com- 
mittee has been led to attempt a combination 
of the Uniform Lesson, with a more system- 
atic didactic scheme. The plan thus devel- 
oped, since it is still somewhat crude and 
Wholly untried by experience, is presented 
here, with great diffidence, in the hope that it 
may, at least, lead to other and more success- 
ful attempts to accomplish the desired object 
The suggestions are : Use the Uniform 
Scripture lesson three Sundays in each month, 
and let the sessions on those days be devoted 
entirely to the selected lesson ; for the intro- 
duction of any other theme will but distract 
the attention and embarrass the effect of the 
day's teaching. Let one Sunday (call it liar-' 
vest Sunday, to give the children a handle), in 
each month, be set aside for categorical 
instruction, conducted either by means of 
text-books, or upon the following plan : — 

Divide the proposed course into very short 
lessons, numbered consecutively and printed* 
each upon a separate slip of paper or card. 
Give to each scholar a copy of the first lesson 
in the course, with directions to recite, there- 
from, on the next Harvest Sunday. Hear these 
lessons only upon the said assigned Sunday j 
and, if they are well learued, replace card No. 
1, with No. 2. Let reviews of the preceding 
lessons be printed, in condensed form, on the 
back of each card. Review at each lesson ; 
and allow no scholar to advance to the next 
card who cannot, at any moment, recite the 
matter contained by those previously studied. 
Thus, with defaults and absences, the scholars* 
will soon be on various Harvest lessons ; this 
is inevitable ; it may, however, be attended 
with a healthy emulation. Rewards and pre- 
miums may be given, as in the old lesson sys- 
tem, to such an extent as is deemed proper by 
managers. The fifth Sunday occurring in four 
months of the year, may be used for concerts 
or reviews. To sum up : The proposed plan 
makes use of the Uniform Lesson system, al- 
lowing, however, a return once a month, to 
the old lesson plan under a modified form, but 
with many of its disadvantages, for the sake 
of weaving a progressive scheme of instruc- 
tion into the uniform warp of the Scripture' 
lessons. It may be found seriously trouble- 
some to make such frequent changes in the 
lesson plan as this scheme calls for; but, oa 
the other hand, these very changes may add 
to the interest, a,nd excite the attention and! 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



21 



emulation of the children to a degree, -which 
could not be attained with an unvarying ses- 
sion routine. 

The Uniform Lesson may be conducted ad- 
van' ageously in the use of the Helper's period- 
ical series. With skilful teachers, the system 
may be extended into the Infant classes. In 
the latter department, Object teaching is being 
extensively practised, and, in spite of many 
far-fetched and ridiculous applications, is im- 
proving the methods. It has evoked an abund- 
ance of machinery, whereof the blackboard is 
a permanent and useful representative. 

Again referring to their instructions, your 
committee w T ould proceed to consider some 
means 

II. — OF INCREASING NUMBERS AND 
EFFICIENCY. 

But would beg leave to offer, as introductory 
and fundamental to the subject, some sugges- 
tions pointing more particularly towards the 
more rapid establishment of new Universalisl 
Schools, an object which may seem of double 
interest to your body in view of the probability 
that churches are as likely to grow out of 
schools as are schools to result from the 
founding of churches. The first and most 
comprehensive observation which your com- 
mittee would express is that this General 
Convention lacks the power to originate and 
control a practical interest in the Sunday 
school cause, and to systematically advance 
its objects, for the want of a distinct and 
definite Sunday School representation. In the 
first place, they would submit, our National 
Convention should demand that a proportion 
of its members be so selected as to specially 
represent the Sunday School interest. One 
half of the lay delegates should be selected 
with this view. Secondly, a portion of each 
annual session should be set aside, by the 
regular order of exercises, for Sunday School 
business and conference. This plan is deemed 
preferable to that of a co-ordiuate national 
Sunday School convention; (first), because, 
however distinct may appear to be that class 
of the church community who are actively in- 
terested in the Sunday Schools, it is not ad- 
visable to take any action which may seem to 
ignore the natural and close relationship ex- 
isting between the church and school, and 
their reciprocal duties; and (secondly), be- 
cause the congruity and immense practical 
advantages of unity of organization are pre- 
served by the plan proposed. 



Believing, therefore, a provision for Sun- 
day School representation in our national 
council essential to our progress in Sunday- 
school work, your Committee would recom- 
mend the following for your adoption : — 

Eesolved, That the Constitution of this Gen- 
eral Convention be so amended as to demand 
that one-half, or within one of one-half, of the 
delegates to this convention, to which any 
State Convention shall be entitled, shall con- 
sist of persons actively engaged in Sunday. 
School work; and that such qualification shall 
be specified in the credentials of the said pro- 
portion of the delegates from any State, in 
order to entitle them to seats ; and 

Eesolved, That one-half of the Board of 
Trustees of this General Convention shall be 
ordered, by the appropriate change in the 
Constitution, to consist of persons who are 
actively engaged in Sunday school work ; and 

Eesolved, That the order of exercises at 
each session of this General Convention shall 
be made to include a special meeting for Sun- 
day school business and conference ; and, 
finely, 

Eesolved, That a committee be appointed to 
prepare and submit to this body, at its pres- 
ent session, such verbal alterations of the 
Constitution as shall embody the above-men- 
tioned amendments. 

Your committee would, as the second item 
under this head, suggest that requests for 
Sunday School statistics be macie directly to 
superintendents or secretaries, as fir as the 
addresses of such officers can be obtained; 
for the importance of the accurate collec- 
tion of statistics lies, not merely in the in- 
terest attaching to the consideration of a 
census, but also, in the fact, that we will 
thereby be enabled to discover where to apply 
our missionary efforts, and that encouragement 
will be given to the work of starting new 
schools, when each new achievement is sure 
to be placed upon record. The blanks now 
issued by the Permanent Secretary, being 
directed only to church officers, fail, in a 
large number of cases, to elicit Suuday School 
statistics. 

(3). By tracts and persona] missionary work, 
efforts might be made to keep before the 
people the importance of Sunday Schools, 
and especially of Universalist schools. Too 
many of our people, remote from established 
churches of our faith, rest satisfied with either 
keeping their children at home on Sunday, or 
allowing them to attend the schools of other 
denominations. There are still a number of 



22 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



our churches, also, which have no Sunday- 
Schools connected with them. 

Finally (4), facilities for conducting Sun- 
day Schools should he widely distributed. 
This will include the multiplying and cheap- 
ening of books, papers and other acces- 
sories, and the extension of missionary aid to 
localities without schools. Under this head 
your Committee would present a suggestion, 
received from Br. Pullman, of New York, to 
wit: that the publication of an available order 
of exercises, and some of the more essential 
directions in regard to the carrying on of 
Sunda/ Schools, would induce some who 
might otherwise feel too inexperienced to do 
so, to undertake the organization and care of 
schools, in places where the population is 
scanty. 

The means of increasing the numbers and 
efficiency of existing schools lie, your Commit- 
tee conceive : — ■ 

First, in the continued operation and more 
systematic and harmonious organization of 
general and local unions, having these objects. 
The strength that lies in union, Sunday Schools 
cannot afford to ignore. Each school should 
belong to an association embracing a con- 
venient number of its neighbor schools, with 
which occasional meetings should be held for 
the purpose of exchanging views and plans; 
of deriving the stimulus which will result 
from mutual reports of progress; of arrang- 
ing combined anniversaries, which shall re- 
mind the children, from time to time, that they 
belong to a great denomination; of promot- 
ing social intercourse between neighboring 
schools. The local unions of each State 
should be uniformly organized and registered 
by a central State association ; these latter, re- 
puting to the National Convention, whose 
ultimate Sunday-School work need not stop 
short of the widest advantages to be gained 
by organized missionary effort, and the publi- 
cation and distribution of every needed help 
for the cause. 

Secondly, in the thorough organization of 
the Teachers' Societies, and the extension of 
their discipline into every session. 

Thirdly, in the encouragement and assist- 
ance furnished ' to schools by the adult con- 
gregations with which they are connected. 
Your Committee would fully endorse the reso- 
lution passed last year upon this subject, but 
would respectfully suggest that it will have 
little influence until copies shall be sent di- 
rectly to the church officers, a measure which 
they strongly recommend. 



Fourthly, in the infusion of a missionary 
spirit throughout our Sunday Schools By 
this means will numbers particularly be in- 
creased. No school ought to rest satisfied 
with including only the children of the parish 
to which it belongs. Every justifiable attrac- 
tion and inducement should be held out for the 
bringing in of the stray lambs from the high- 
ways. Children may be made to do mission- 
ary work with interest, and the more they do 
of it, the more they will be strengthened in 
the spirit of the Master. 

Fifthly, in the adoption of the best methods 
of imparing instruction, your Committee will 
here recommend the universal adoption of the 
Uniform lesson system; but would suggest 
that, in connection therewith, a progressive 
plan of doctrinal instruction be interwoven, 
and carried out, by means of appropriate 
question books, papers or cards or by lec- 
tures, charts or blackboard exercises. 

Sixthly, in the careful selection of the 
workers and their tools. General intelligence 
in teachers, and ample facilities, arc, of course, 
highly important; but the efficiency of a 
Universalist Sunday School is to be ultimately 
tested by the denominational work it shall ac- 
complish. The widest liberality may prevail 
in the churches, but the object of the school 
is to teach correctly; and, therefore, no one 
should be allowed to engage as officer or teach- 
er in the work who, not being thoroughly 
grounded in our fairh, will be liable to incul- 
cate doctrines which we believe are false, or 
fail in presenting the truth as we sec it. 
Carefully-selected libraries for both teachers 
and scholars, and the circulation of our de- 
nominational papers among both classes, will 
be powerful helps. Your Committee would 
especially recommend the children's papers to 
the fostering care of our General Committee, 
and urge upon the denomination the increased 
patronage thereof. They would suggest to all 
Sunday School societies the advisability of 
subscribing from the school fund for supplies 
of one or both of these papers, in order that 
rich and poor may alike enjoy the advantages 
they afford. The circulation, among the teach- 
ers of every school, of our new Sunday 
School Helper, also, is one of the most desir- 
able objects which your Committee, in con- 
nection with this subject, has had in contem- 
plation. 

Seventhly, and finally, efficiency will depend 
upon the persistent aim of schools towards 
grounding the pupils in truth and goodness 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



23 



and developing the outward tokens thereof, in 
confirmation and church extension. 

Presuming that ''matters of interest con- 
nected with the subject," and not falling under 
the head of methods must be mainly 

HE— HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL. 

Your Committee would present, in conclu- 
sion, such materials as they have been able to 
gather for this department; which, though 
meagre and incomplete, will be found, in their 
indications of progress, to be full of interest 
and encouragement. The early half of our 
just completed century, was almost entirely 
unblessed by Sabbath School influence. Hardly 
a year of its latter half has passed without 
witnessing the birth of new Universalist Sun- 
day Schools in the United States. The interest 
taken in the cause by successive meetings of 
our General Convention and of its parent 
association, the New England convention, 
exhibits a corresponding alteration. It is in- 
deed worthy of remark, that the first action 
taken by the latter, subsequent to its organ- 
ization in 1791, was to choose "a committee 
to compose a short piece, simplifying a sys- 
tem of religion, adapted to the capacity of 
children, to instruct them in the first rudi- 
ments of the Gospel of Christ; " but whether 
the proposed work was ever submitted, extant 
minutes do not tell, nor do we find in them 
any reference to juvenile instruction till, in 
1839, the Sunday Schools of Vermont begin 
to be heard from, and Massachusetts and New 
York report that " much attention is paid to 
the cause of Sunday Schools, and the forma- 
tion of Bible Classes." In 1810, the Conven- 
tion resolved that "the proper education of 
the young is of great importance to the pros- 
perity and happiness of the world; and this 
Convention affectionately recommend to our 
brethren, scattered abroad, the duty of estab- 
lishing Sunday Schools and Bible classes, and 
encouraging a punctual attendance upon the 
institutes of religion." The idea of a general 
association, having for its exclusive work, the 
carrying out of these purposes, seems to have 
been early conceived. In lsl-t, " a Committee 
appointed for the purpose, presented a pre- 
amble and resolutions, passed at a late meet- 
ing of the teachers and friends of Sunday 
Schools, holden in Eoxbnry, Mass.. and also 
a preamble and resolutions passed at a meet- 
ing of teachers, in New York, recommending 
the establishment of a Sunday School Union ; 
and, after some debate, the subject was refer- 



red to a Committee," who, to a brief report, 
submitted at the following session, pronounc- 
ing "it inexpedient under the present cir- 
cumstances of our denomination to establish 
such a Union," added the following para- 
graph : " We cannot conclude this report 
without recommending the formation of Sun- 
day School associations in every State. We 
also recommend each state association to take 
such measures as it may deem practical, to 
procure the publication of such Sunday School 
books, as the wants of our denomination de- 
mand." 

Whether in pursuance of this advice or not, 
Sunday School associations were, from time 
to time, organized; and, in 1819, seven were 
reported to be in existence. The plan of a 
general union was not, however abandoned. 
In 1852, a resolution that "it is expedient for 
this Convention to constitute and maintain a 
general Sunday School Union, to be under the 
management and direction of the Convention, 
assisted by a board of directors," was referred 
to a committee, whose report does not, how- 
ever, appear in the minutes. In 1856, a 
"more thorough and efficient organization" 
was resolved upon in the ■•establishment and 
management of Sunday Schools ; " and in 1858, 
a committee reported favorably upon the es- 
tablishment of a Sunday School Union, and a 
committee was appointed to call a convention 
of Sunday School teachers in 1859. The call 
was probably never issued. It may have been 
thought less imperatively necessary on account 
of the adoption, by the General Convention of 
of a Standing Committee on Sunday schools, 
the first members of which were appointed in 
183G. This slender provision, however, has 
often been of no avail ; since some of the 
Committees have failed to respond, leaving the 
session, in several cases, without an allusion 
to Sunday-school work. To avoid this con- 
tingency, and to again suggest our need of a 
central organization, with power and adapted- 
noss for Sunday-school enterprise, your pres- 
ent committee have proposed a plan, the dis- 
cussion of which, they hope, will at least lead 
to our strengthening in this regard. Shall we 
not commence our second century by adding 
to onr national body an efficient arm for this 
all-important work. 

The earliest birth-date of a Universalist 
Sunday School, which your committee have 
been able to ascertain, is that of the Stough- 
ton, Mass., School, which is given as 1819. 
The Gloucester school dates back to 1820. 
Providence, (11. I.) organized her first schooJ 



24 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



in 1821; and, in 1829, Massachusetts again 
added to the list. Within the next ten years, 
all the Eastern States and New iTork, Penn- 
sylvania and Ohio, had Universalist Sunday 
Schools. Before 18G0, upwards of 150 schools 
had been started ; since that date, 200 more 
have been actually reported, giving a vast 
preponderance tq the last decade. In 18G9, 
43 new schools are known to have been or- 
ganized; while the number this year, has 
already reached 39. These are statements of 
facts within the knowledge of your commit- 
tee, and do not embrace that large number of 
schools whose date of organization has not 
been reported. 

The iigurcs which follow, also, are not mere 
estimates, but are deduced from specific re- 
ports of our present strength, known to be 
within the truth. 

Maine has fifty-three schools, with a roll of 
at least 4,000 scholars. She has a Sunday 
School Union, and has organized four schools 
within the last ten years. 

New Hampshire has organized one centen- 
ary school. Her roll number is at least ten ; 
and 819 scholars are reported. She has a 
State Sunday School Convention in active 
operation. 

Vermont has thirty-eight schools, with an 
attendance of 2,000, and, at least, two Sunday 
School Unions. Seven of her schools have 
been started during 1SG9 and 1870. 

Massachusetts has five Sunday School Union 
associations ; 98 schools, one or two of which 
were started last year; and 14,500 scholars. 
She has nearly G0,000 volumes in her Univer- 
salist libraries. 

A lady in Rhode Island organized, last year, 
the 8th Universalist Sunday School in that 
State. Over 1,000 children attend our schools 
here. 

Connecticut has about 12 schools, two of 
which have been organized lately. 

New York has about 80 schools, with an at- 
tendance of 5,000. Two flourishing Sunday 
School Unions exist within her limits. Not 
less than 14 of her schools have started dur- 
ing 1SG9 and '70. 

New Jersey has five schools, one of which 
is new. 

Thirteen schools are in operation in Penn- 
sylvania, with an aggregate attendance of 
1,400. Two. or three schools have been 
recently started. 

The Wilmington school is the only one 
known, to your committee, iu Delaware. 
The Murray Universalist Sunday School, in 



the District of Columbia, organized in 18G9, 
reports sixty scholars. 

Prom Maryland, your committee have no 
statistics. The Baltimore School, which re- 
ported to this convention as early as 1841, is 
probably still flourishing. 

Virginia is not known to have an organized 
school of our faith. 

In West Virginia, at Wheeling, we have a 
centenary school. It was organized this year. 
Its managers write: "This school started 
with six children and three adults (after 
preaching, which was sustained but a short 
while, had been stopped). We have over- 
come all obstacles that have come up, and, 
to-day, have scholars in the school, whose 
parents have almost insulted us for asking 
them to let their children come. Fourteen to 
eighteen was a good attendance for a long 
while. Our value of property will be in- 
creased at least $50, and our debt entirely 
liquidated, by the time the General Conven- 
tion meets." They have now fifty-two 
scholars. Your committee know of no otrier 
school in this State. 

From North Carolina comes a similar inter- 
esting report. Mrs. Julia E. Outlaw writes 
of her little school, which was organized 
this year, in Dublin Co. : "I commenced 
the first Sunday iu last July with between 
fifteen and twenty scholars. I have now 
over forty. It is the only Universalist School 
that I know of anywhere in the State. Uni- 
versalists are looked upon with contempt 
by a majority of the people in this section ; 
but the doctrine is gaining friends very fast 
with a great many, yet I have a great deal to 
contend with. I have but little help to teach 
in the Sunday School, except my children. I 
think there are several that will come in soon 
to assist in teaching." 

South Carolina appears to have no Univer- 
salist Sunday School. 

In Georgia, two or three new schools of our 
faith are reported as flourishing. 

In Alabama we have a new school at Camp 
Hill. 

There is a Universalist School in Florida, 
lately organized. 

Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Texas are destitute. California has not been 
heard from. 

In Tama Co., Missouri, there is a Univer- 
salist Sunday School lately started, with about 
'thirty members. 

At Sycamore, Arkansas, a school has been 
started by our friends. 



GLOUCESTER, 1ST0. 



25 



Kentucky is said to have a good Universalist 
School at Union Hill. 

Ohio has fifty-three schools, with a member- 
ship of 4,000. Her State Sunday School Con- 
vention is vigorous. Nine of her schools 
belong to the centenary epoch. 

Thirteen schools in Michigan have 77G chil- 
dren. One was organized in 18G9. 

Illinois has thirty-four schools with an 
aggregate attendance of more than 2,000. 
One was organized in 1869, another in 
1870. 

Wisconsin reports fourteen schools, with 
over a thousand members. One is a centen- 
ary school. Here we have a State Sunday- 
School Union. 

The number in Iowa is thirteen, three of 
which are centenary. Nearly 1,500 scholars. 

Minnesota has seventeen schools, nine of 
which belong to the centenary roll. The ag- 
gregate membership exceeds 1 ,000. This State 
has held a Sunday School Convention. 

Kansas has three centenary schools, with 
150 scholars. 

Several Union Sunday Schools have been 
heard from, in the South and West, in which 
the Universalist element predominates. 

There are a number of schools of our faith 
in Canada. 

The whole number of Universalist Sunday 
Schools known to exist within the limits of 
the Convention is 500 : and the aggregate 
children's membership thereof is about 40,000. 

Eighty -two schools have been established 
since January, 1860. Once more, let your 
Committee state that these are inside figures, 
and that the truth is, beyond all doubt, far in 
excess of them. 

The number of families reported to be iu 
society membership bears to the number of 
schools given ubove, the ratio of forty to one ; 
to the whole number of scholars it stands in 
the ratio of one to two. The number of 
church members reported is, in proportion to 
the number of scholars, nearly as one to 
three. 

The number of societies registered last year 
is largely in excess of the number of schools 
here reported; but this is due, in great meas- 
ure, to the fact that many societies have 
schools from which your committee have not 
heard. Twenty societies are known to be 
without schools, and at least ten schools exist 
independently of societies. Of the whole 
number of superintendents whose names 
are reported (373) thirty-six are ministers. 
Twenty- six lady superintendents are men- 



tioned. The whole number of teachers can 
only be estimated ; there are 3,000 in Massa- 
chusetts, New York and Ohio. 

Your committee have no means of estimat- 
ing the amount of money used for Sunday- 
School purposes, during the year, nor the 
value of our Sunday-School property. The 
number of library books included in scatter- 
ing reports from only ten States is 66,170. 
The Very careful report of your committee of 
1868, gave but 00 ; 08G volumes as the returns 
of seventeen States. Oar wealth, in this 
respect, therefore, may be judged to have 
largely increased. 

The contributions of children daring this 
centenary enthusiasm have been, in the aggre- 
gate, large ; yet coming through such diverse 
channels as to be difficult of estimation. Single 
Sunday-School boxes have been often found to 
cover sums comparatively large, reaching, in 
several cases, $30 and $10. Children's cen- 
tenary aid associations have done good work 
in many of the schools ; fairs, festivals, and 
exhibitions held under such auspices having, 
in a number of cases, netted amounts running 
from 8200 to $400. Mite and impromptu fairs 
arranged by children have resulted in a profit 
of between $100 and $200 on several reported 
occasions. A number of schools have set 
aside the proceeds of a regular collection; and 
many, by a single effort, have raised consid- 
erable sums for the Murray fund. Schools, 
here and there, have contributed $103, $500, 
and $1,500 toward local church purposes. 
Exact amounts and names might be given, 
but the information of ycur committee upon 
this subject is so scattering that the result 
would be invidious and notoriously incom- 
plete. Could the facts be properly set forth, 
however, the centenary record of the Sunday 
Schools would be a bright one. The practice 
of taking collections iu schools has, your com- 
mittee believe, become far more general since 
the action taken with reference thereto by 
your body in 1868. The prescribed half for 
general missionary purposes has been set 
aside, however, in but comparatively few in- 
stances ; a delinquency which is undoubtedly 
owing, in a large measure, to the fact that no 
official communication of the request was 
made to the managers of schools. The chief 
methods used by our schools to raise money, 
aside from various collections, seem to com- 
prise festivals, pic-nics, and exhibitions, 
under their various forms. Such entertain- 
ments, held under the auspices of our schools, 
are heard of from all sections of the Northern 



26 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



States, and appear to be generally profitable 
in their results. 

Monthly or quarterly concerts are now a 
standard feature in a large number of our 
schools. Many, also, revive the interest of 
the children in the history of the school by 
holding a special anniversary of its organiza- 
tion. The annual reports are often read upon 
these occasions. General anniversaries are 
held in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and 
Cincinnati, in which all the Universalist 
schools of the respective cities participate 
each year. The observance of Christmas and 
Easter by our schools is becoming every year 
more general. The former is, in nearly all 
our schools, the great day of the year; and 
very interesting exercises in connection with 
the latter occasion have been reported by a 
number of schools. Thanksgiving receives 
much less attention than it should ; why may 
not children be interested in a short devo- 
tional observance of that day, and be taught 
thereby to appreciate its meaning and feel its 
help? 

No observance, however, has so rapidly 
grown into popularity, and exhibited such a 
widespread unity of purpose as our Children's 
Day, — Flower Sunday, Rose Sunday, or Lily 
Sunday, as it has been variously called. By 
casual reports, collected from various sources, 
your committee have ascertained the names 
of thirty-six schools that held Children's Day 
in 1868; of fifty-eight that held the day in 
18G9 ; and of sixty-four wherein it has been 
observed this year. The figures which, in 
many cases, were given with these reports, 
make a total of 2,188 dedications; which, 
though of course it falls short of the actual 
number, shows a considerable addition to the 
Children's Church. There is every indication 
that the beautiful appropriateness of this ser- 
vice in the Sunday- School year, and its tender 
and solemn function of formally blending and 
harmonizing the purpose of church and school 
are becoming widely appreciated. May we 
not hope for the time when every one of our 
schools and churches shall realize the bene- 
ficial influence of the observance of this sacred 
anniversary? 

It might be here remarked that compara- 
tively few of our schools have been careful to 
hold this occasion upon the recommended 
second Sunday in June ; in many instances, 
undoubtedly, because no notice had been 
received of the recommendation ; but chiefly, 
in all probability, because the height of 
the flower season, with which Children's 



Sunday is often appropriately appointed to 
correspond, varies the time of its recurrence 
in differing latitudes. It will be difficult to 
confine the observance to a uniform date. 
Your Committee would suggest that records 
be preserved, both by church and school, of 
the names of those dedicated. Let us keep 
careful account of the lambs so expressly and 
solemnly confided to our care. 

In regard to general efforts in behalf of the 
cause, your committee have but to report we 
lack that central organization whence such 
efforts might be expected to radiate, and 
under whose auspices they would be most 
efficiently carried out. There are, within the 
Convention limits, at least thirteen Sunday 
School Unions, threeof which are State or- 
ganizations. The New Hampshire Convention 
holds quarterly sessions. The New York 
Central Sunday School Convention meets four 
times in the year, and listens to essays upon 
appropriate subjects. Through a committee 
appointed at their last session, the Ohio 
Sunday School Convention has recommended 
(1st) the holding, monthly, of a "Murray 
Fund Sunday," with a collection ; (2d) that 
the missionary boxes be kept in view at all 
sessions and be frequently referred to ; and 
(3d) that in June one entire service be 
devoted to a jubilee meeting for the children, 
and that a special collection be taken on that 
clay for the fund. These recommendations 
were embodied in a circular letter addressed 
to officers, and have undoubtedly caused the 
Ohio schools to take prominence in contribu- 
tions to the Murray Fund. Wisconsin has 
organized a State Union, and a general meet- 
ing of delegates from the Minnesota schools 
has been held in the latter State 

Our repertory of library and lesson books 
has not been greatly increased during the 
year. The Helper's series of lesson papers 
has been adverted to. A new service-book 
and a new siuging-book are announced by the 
Boston House. The latter, to be edited by 
Br. G. L. Demarest, will supply a great need. 
FeeHng as they must, the necessity of fresh 
and stirring music in the services, our school 
managers are often troubled, in making their 
selections, by the objectionable sentiments 
conveyed by the words in mauy of the popular 
publications. While it is probable that the 
printed music is often an aid in singing, to 
teachers and advanced scholars, it is worthy 
of consideration whether, it would not be 
well to have a carefully prepared selection of 
lively Sunday School songs and hymns, 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



27 



adapted, not only to our doctrines, but to the 
metres of the newest and best-liked tunes. 
The prize has been recommended by our 
Western Publishing House; and your com- 
mittee, in looking over i«t, have discovered 
very little that is exceptionable. A member 
of your Committee has enjoyed an opportunity 
of expurgating all that was positively objec- 
tionable in Silver Wings, a late Boston issue ; 
and editions thereof, subsequent to the second, 
will be found to to be tolerably well adapted, 
as regards words, for use in our schools. 

The rapidity with which periodicals for 
juveniles have sprung into existence, within 
the last few years, is worthy of note. There 
are now published in the United States over 
one hundred papers and magazines of this 
class ; a majority of which are Sunday School 
journals. Prominent among these, in respect 
to size and liveliness and originality of matter 
is our own Guiding Star, which already circu- 
lates 10,000 copies semi-monthly, supplying 262 
schools. The Myrtle, too, in a new and 
beautiful dress, continues its ministrations to 
our Schools. Its managers have introduced 
in its conduct several novel features which are 
undoubted improvements. The extent of the 
circulation of this paper your committee have 
been unable to learn ; it is probably equal to 
that of the Star. To teachers, the Sunday 
School Helper, started last January, — the only 
periodical of its class in the denomination, — 
will be found an interesting companion and 
an invaluable aid. 

In the generally increasing enthusiasm 
which prevails throughout the Christian world 
in regard to the Sunday-School cause, our de- 
nomination abundantly shares ; and among us, 
as among all the churches, that special 
department is found to furnish, to the lay 
element in particular, a field of increasing 
usefulness and power in advancing the gospel 
standard. And this, certainly, not to the 



building up of a distinctiveness of purpose 
between church and school; for nothing is 
more obvious than that those of the laity who 
are actively engaged in the Sunday Schools 
are the very ones who are most zealous in 
church movements. Indeed, the circumstance 
that such are, perhaps, not in the majority 
among church-goers, is entirely due to the 
fact that many who are lukewarm in the de- 
nominational cause will, for various reasons, 
hold society and church membership, which 
involves but little sacrifice of comfort; while 
the Sunday-School workers are, in a large 
measure, selected for their denominational 
consistency, and gained by reason of their 
denominational zeal. Then, too, the flourish- 
ing churches that have grown up from mere 
schools, and the harmony, as between schools 
and churches, that is being more and more 
practically and formally displayed throughout 
all denominations, are proofs that the cause 
of one of these bodies cannot be forwarded 
without a corresponding advance in that of 
the other. Yet the Sunday-School cause, 
pre eminently needs specially adapted organ- 
ization for its success, from the fact that its 
methods are necessarily distinctiveness, and 
its workers practically select. All experience 
proves that the presence of the proper 
element in a national body is the only method 
of pushing on the cause as a national one ; 
but we cannot afford a distinct national Sun- 
day-School convention. The very unity of 
our purposes, with the comparative smallness 
of our numbers would render it impracticable 
to rally the desirable attendance for two 
national councils. In recognizing our general 
Convention, therefore, let us be sure to make 
provision that our Sunday Schools be specially 
represented. 

Geo. G. Neediiam. 

Andrew Wilson. 

Sidney Periiam. 



CElSTTEISr^RY SERMOHST. 



BY 



KEY. A. A. MINER, D. D. 



"Iam Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
first and the last."— Rev. xxn: 13. 

"One day is with the Lord as a thousand years , and a 
thousand years as one day." — II Peter, iii : 8. 

Beloved Friends : — In the name of all 
the churches I bring you Christian greeting. 
As you come to-day from your various fields of 
labor — from your pulpits, your churches, your 
Sunday-schools, your institutions of learning, 
your homes made peaceful by gospel grace and 
hope — I bid you welcome ; one and all, most 
welcome ! 

From the rugged East and the outstretched 
West ; from the shores of our Great Lakes and 
the rising States beyond ; from the Briti&h 
Provinces and the Pacific Coast, you come 
with your garnered sheaves of a gladdening 
harvest. Meditating with gratitude upon the 
extending light of the centuries past, look- 
ing with still kindling joys upon the promise of 
the centuries to come, and recognizing the 
providence of God in all, you gather at this 
Mecca of our Church, buttressed by mountain 
ranges on the one hand, and by the sounding 
sea on the other, and, listening, hear the echoes, 
as it were, of the Revelator's prophecy — a 
prophecy which the church scarce yet dares 
believe — " I am Alpha and Omega, the begin- 
ning and the end, the first and the last." 

Such promise at the close of the sacred vol- 
ume recalls the sublime declaration with which 
it opens, — " In the beginning, God created the 
heavens and the earth." Such a solution of 
the problem of the universe, such an affirma- 
tion of Monotheism, such an implication of the 
divine unity, and all in an age before human 
science or philosophy was born, stamp with the 
signet of heaven the Mosaic announcements. 
In a kindred spirit, Moses elsewhere (Ps.xc.,) 
says, " Before the mountains were brought 
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and 
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting 
thou art God." 

In reverence of the everlasting God are we 
met to-day. In honor of his servant, who, a 
century ago, landed on our shores, and after- 



ward planted on this rockbound coast the first 
Universalist Church in America, do we confess 
our faith. In hope of the full redemption of 
our race, when God shall be the End as he is 
the Beginning, do we take up the refrain of the 
angelic hosts, and shout, " Glorv to God in the 
highest ! and on earth peace ; good will toward 
men." 

Nature Justifies our Hope. 

Nor is this an idle confidence. As biogra- 
phy reveals individual character, and history 
the character of nations, so the universe reveals 
the wisdom, goodness, and power of God. The 
ever-changing aspects of the earth and heav- 
ens, the manifold laws of crystallization, — 
shaping myriad forms, from the snowflake to 
the diamond, the exuberant beauty and fra- 
grance of the floral world, the sportive delights 
and swelling harmonies of animated nature, all 
attest that God is powerful, wise and good. 

Even his rational creatures, sinful though 
they are, are not thereby excluded from his 
care. Instantly, as we shrink from that which 
bruises the flesh, the recuperative energies of 
the body begin its restoration, thus illustrating 
the forgiveness of sin, when we shrink from its 
fatal power, as that which bruises the spirit. 
Goodness then becomes mercy, wisdom brings 
deliverance, and power is seen enthroned in 
the moral domain. Even the facts seemingly 
conflicting with this benevolent order are found 
in many ways to subserve it. The severities 
of climate, the rage of the elements, the feroc- 
ity and deadliness of various creatures, and 
the manifold maladies of our race, discover 
many kindly and wholesome relations. The 
part they play in the complex problem of 
physical good is not wholly unknown ; and the 
relation they bear to the development of man's 
moral nature, has been the theme of many a 
moral essay, showing that they are among the 
instrumentalities of human culture. Noth- 
ing here seems to the devout soul impossible. 
While science boldly traces the transmutations 
of the black mold of the earth into the blush 



GLOUCESTER. 1870. 



29 



of the maiden's cheek and the flashing fire of 
the eye of genius. I cannot doubt the power of 
God to make the virulence of nature, not less 
than the wrath of man,, to praise Him, and the 
remainder to restrain. 

We hesitate not, then, to say with the Psalm- 
ist. •• The Lord is good to all. and his tender 
mercies are over all his works." There is, 
moreover, a unity of design in nature, which 
subordinates every seeming refractory element 
to the ends of the whole. By virtue of this 
unity. Science alone would establish Monothe- 
ism as agaiust Polytheism : and, after a like 
fashion, immortality being granted, may. at 
Length, establish Universalism as against Par- 
tialism. Does net the Pievelator hint this in 
recognizing but one aim in creation ? " Thou 
art worthy. Lord, to receive glory and honor 
and power ; for thou hast created ail things, 
and for thy pleasure they are and were cre- 
ated." 

The reverent joy begotten by the simplest 
aspects of nature is in no wise abated by the 
boasted light of modern science. Let Geology 
demonstrate her innumerable ages since Crea- 
tion began ; let the nebular hypothesis be ac- 
cepted as showing the process of world-rnak- 
let the Darwinian doctrine of develop- 
ment deliver us from catastrophes and the di- 
rect creation of species : let Spencer add his 
suggestion of development in the direction of 
least resistance ; let Buckle still ride on the 
t; winzs of the wind." substituting mountain for 
miracle, the mountain itself remaining one of 
the greatest of miracles : let Huxley establish 
his doctrine of the physical basis of life, with 
his protoplasm and proteine : let Prof. Barker 
prove the correlation of forces, both potential 
and actual — the possible resolution into each 
other of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, mo- 
tion, the vital forces generally, and even 
thought itself : What then? Because we have 
traced the dominion of law up to the very 
threshold of the temple where dwells the Law- 
giver, is there therefore no Lawgiver ? Be- 
cause we can observe the correlation of parts 
in the creation of God, is there therefore no 
Creation of God ? Is this interpretation of 
nature a work of thought, and is nature herself 
the product of no thought ? Does man resolve 
the universe, and yet is man himself, at his 
best estate, only level to the ordinary things 
of that universe ? Because thought is expend- 
ing force, has man no soul, no immortality, no 



blessed destiny ? Can Science answer such 
questions as these ? Or shall we not rather 
say. with a modern disciple of science, ;; These 
questions lie beyond her boundary ': '' Zso 
crucible, no subtle magnetic needle, can answer 
them. Xo word but His who formed us can 
break the awful silence. In presence of such 
a revelation, Science is dumb, and Faith comes 
in joyfully to accept those higher truths which 
can never be the objects of physical demon- 
stration. Rejecting all that is Pantheistic, or 
possibly Atheistic even in tendency, in the 
averments of modern Scientists. I would say, 
with Stirling, i; This universe is not an acci- 
dental cavity, in which an accidental dust has 
been accidentally swept into heaps for the ac- 
cidental evolution of the majestic spectacle of 
organic and inorganic being. That majestic 
spectacle is a spectacle as plainly for the eye 
of reason as any diagram of the mathematician. 
That majestic spectacle could have been con- 
structed, was constructed, only in reason, for 
reason, and by reason. From beyond Orion 
and the Pleiades, across the green hem of earth, 
up to the imperial personality of man. all, the 
furthest, the deadest, the dustiest, is for fusion 
in the invisible point of the single Ego — which 
alone glorifies it. For the subject, and on the 
model of the subject, all is made ! " * 

Leaning, then, on the arm of Faith, we ac- 
cept, wiih our wonted joy. the testimony of the 
Psalmist : " The heavens declare the glory of 
God, and the firmament shovreth his handi- 
work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
night unto night showeth knowledge." Has 
not the Saviour himself ascribed unto God the 
upholding of the sparrow, and the clothing of 
the grass of the fieido in a glory transcending 
the glory of Solomon '? 

Revelation Affirms it. 

But while nature teaches us of God. God 
has not exhausted himself in nature ; nor has 
He abandoned his children to the realms of 
nature for the more subtile readings of the 
realm of grace. It would be absurd to suppose 
an earthly father would make possible the good 
of his child in mature life, only by an accurate 
interpretation of the prophecies of its being in 
childhood. A wise father. I imagine, would 
give his child many a kindly counsel, which, if 
obeyed, would bring him good all along the 
path of youth itself. So God has spoken to us 

* Stirling's reply to Huxley! 



30 



UNIVERSALTST CENTENARY, 



of present duty and of ultimate destiny. By 
the mouth of Patriarch and Prophet, of Christ 
and his Apostles, wisdom has guided the world, 
and the grace of heaven has been revealed to 
man. 

Mark that grace ! Far above the sea of hu- 
man passion, rises the love of Heaven. Quite 
beyond the narrow channel of sectarian sym- 
pathy, flow the merciful designs of God. From 
the beginning to the end of the sacred volume, 
the tone is the same. The prophecy, to the 
first pair, of the destruction of evil ; the patri- 
archal promise, thrice repeated, and endorsed 
by an apostolic interpretation of universal 
blessing through Christ ; the ever enduring 
nature of divine mercy, as announced by the 
Psalmist, resulting in the satisfactory posses- 
sion, by Christ, of his full inheritance, even 
the heathen and the " uttermost parts of the 
earth;" the flowing of all nations unto the 
house of the Lord in the top of the mountains, 
and the wiping away of tears from off all faces, 
which so kindled the enthusiasm of Isaiah; the 
giving of all peoples, nations and languages, in 
everlasting dominion, to the Son of Man, so 
grandly foretold by Daniel ; the destruction of 
death and hell, predicted by Hosea, eonlbrm- 
ing to the faith of Paul, that mortality shall be 
swallowed up of life; the calling of the 
anointed of God Jesus, because he shall save 
his people from their sins ; his tasting death 
for every man, giving himself a ransom for all, 
to be testified in due time ; his assurance that, 
if he be lilted up from the earth, he will draw 
all men unto himself; Paul's rendering of it, 
" He became obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross : wherefore God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name 
which is above every name : that at the name 
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
the earth ; and that every*tongue should con- 
fess that Jet.us Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father ; " * and, above all, the Reve- 
lator's vision, " And I beheld, and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne, 
and the beasts, and the elders ; and the num- 
ber of (hem was ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, and thousands of thousands ; saying 
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain to receive power, and riches and wis- 
dom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and 
blessing ; and every creature which is in heaven, 

*Phil.ii: 8-11. 



and on the earth, and under the earth, and such 
as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
] saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb forever" : * — all are 
parts of one great whole ; all are varying har- 
monies upon the same keynote. 

Such are the teachings, of the sacred 
Word in regard to the destiny of the race • 
such the ground swell of Gospel grace. As 
Christian experience is deepened, and a sense 
of the brotherhood of the race intensified, the 
easier of acceptance becomes this hope — ever 
"an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast." 
After a century of enlightened criticism, the 
darker dogmas of the church rest to-day on an 
illogical, strained interpretation of biblical 
rhetoric ; while the all-conquering power of 
Divine love blazes from every page of the 
sacred Word. 

Early Faith of the Jews. 

Corresponding to these teachings was the 
earlier faith of both Jew and Christian, to 
whom the Scriptures were given. Confess- 
edly, the Old Testament deals only in tem- 
poral rewards and punishments ; and not 
until the captivity, when the Jewish mind be- 
came imbued with Pagan thought, have we 
any traces, among that people, of a belief in 
punishment beyond the grave. These traces 
appear in those apocryphal writings, following 
the Old Testament histories and prophecies, 
chiefly interesting to-day, in a dogmatic point 
of view, for the friendly shelter therein given 
to doctrines, which, through all the darker 
ages of the church, notwithstanding their hea- 
then origin, have been claimed to be the very 
bulwark of virtue. 

Faith of Early Christians. 
The faith of the early Christians likewise, 
there is reason to think, was a genial faith. 
Christianity at first was embraced by very 
few, as compared with the whole ; and these 
few were chiefly of the lower classes. The 
labors of those who immediately succeeded the 
apostles were mostly confined to the establish- 
ing of the facts of Christ's ministry and his 
resurrection from the dead. Down to the mid- 
dle of the second century, fifty years after the 
death of the Apostle John, very little appears 
in what were regarded as orthodox writings, 
bearing on the destiny of the race ; and that 

*Rom.v: 11-13. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



31 



little, when we consider all the circumstances 
of the case, must be considered ambiguous. 
Moreover, the faith of the Christians was al- 
ready in process of corruption. Modified by 
both the Greek and the Oriental philosophies 
on the one hand, it was also influenced by the 
leaven of the Pharisees on the other. Among 
the Gnostic sects of this period, and especially 
among those which arose in Egypt, the doc- 
trine of the ultimate salvation of all souls 
appears to have prevailed. And while the 
orthodox fathers vehemently assailed many of 
their notions, it does not appear that their 
Universalism was among the number. 

Everlasting Punishment not Endless 
Punishment. 

The next half century exhibits an apparent 
development of the sadder views of destiny, 
along with the ambiguities of position of some 
prominent men, and the continued prosperity 
of such Gnostic sects as taught the salvation 
of all. Both during this period, and some cen- 
turies following, the punishment of the wicked 
was termed everlasting, equally by those who 
did and those who did not believe it to be end- 
less. A high authority on this subject, the 
late President Ballou, — mainly from whose 
work published forty years ago, and now out 
of print, I draw an outline of the history of 
our leading thought down to the Reformation, 
for the benefit of the younger portion of our 
church, — after passing in review the opinion 
of every writer, down to A. D., 190, whose 
works are extant, says that nearly all the or- 
thodox writers allude to future punishment; 
seven of them call it the everlasting, the eternal 
fire or torment; all the rest are silent as to its 
duration. Of these seven, one accepts Univer- 
salism, two annihilation, showing that they did 
not think that punishment endless ; and four 
leave their views unexplained. The morose 
Tertullian, a century atter all the apostles had 
passed away, is believed to be the first Chris- 
tian writer expressly to assert that " the tor- 
ments of the damned will be of equal duration 
with the happiness of the blest." Though the 
great Clemens Alexandrinus had already con- 
spicuously taught Universalism, no controversy 
arose. Whatever diversity of opinion existed 
upon this subject, among either the orthodox 
or the heretical sects, at the opening of the 
third century, there was no division, and no 
censure of the most liberal views. The great 



array of the orthodox against the heretics was 
on (juite other matters; and Universalists were 
found indiscriminately in the ranks of both 
classes of combatants. 

Origen and Universalism. 

But Universalism was destined soon to chal- 
lenge more general attention. The renowned 
Origen, who flourished during the first half and 
middle of the third centurv, was one of the 
ablest and most learned of all the Christian 
writers before the Reformation. The doctrine 
of Universalism, taught in his earlier and in 
his later writings, in his popular discourses, 
and in his systematic treatises, — taught, not 
in controversy, save in defence of Christianity 
itself, and in refutation of Gnostic errors, — 
made rapid progress. Of his numerous disci- 
. pies, not a few continued the instructions of 
their master, and added to his fame. Though 
the unbounded praises lavished upon him 
awoke the spirit of envy and abuse, and led 
many to impeach his orthodoxy, there is no 
proof that his Universalism was involved. 
Nor was it involved when, forty years after his 
death, these controversies were renewed. It 
was not until the renewed controversies had 
lasted a century, that Epiphanius addressed his 
lefter to John, Bishop of Jerusalem, himself a 
Universalis, censuring Origen, not exactly for 
his Universalism, but for his belief that even 
the devil would be restored. It does not 
appear that his belief in the salvation of all 
men was even then deemed offensive. Nor 
when, shortly after, the Roman Pontiff and 
the Synods of Alexandria and Cyprus con- 
demned Origenism, does it appear that his 
Universalism was the occasion. The contro- 
versy continued to rage ; personal and party 
feeling became more and more deeply involved ? 
until, A. D. 553, the Fifth General Council' 
convened at Constantinople, condemned Ori- 
gen's Universalism, and fixed permanently the 
creed of the Catholic Church. 

During the three centuries that elapsed from 
the death of Origen to this condemnation of 
his doctrine, Universalism held prominent place 
in the Orthodox or Catholic Church. Nearly 
all the leading Origenists, who, be it remem- 
bered, were of this party, were Universalists;* 
and, at about the close of the fourth century, 
Universalism appears to have been received 

* Ancient History of Universalism, Ch. vi. Sec. 22. 



32 



u:n t iversalist centenary, 



for a while, by a majority of the most eminent 
orthodox fathers in the East.* 

Dark Ages of the Church. 

The sun of Christianity was now growing 
dim. Universalism, however, does not appear 
to have fled the church. During a period of a 
little more than three hundred years, ending 
with the Eighth General Council, A. D. 869, 
it was four times condemned in Council, three 
of the Councils being General, indicating its 
disturbing presence. 

In the early part of the eighth century, it 
made some noise in the East, as shown by the 
opposition of Germanus, the Archbishop of 
Constantinople ; and a little later it appeared 
in both France and Germany, where several 
congregations were gathered by one Clement, 
an Irishman, formerly a Romish priest. 

From the middle of the ninth to the middle 
of the eleventh century, a period of darkness and 
corruption, no new heresy disturbed the church. 
The clergy are described as '•shamefully igno- 
rant, especially in religious matters, equally 
enslaved by sensuality and superstition, and 
capable of the most abominable and flagitious 
deeds." The historian already quoted, calls 
this the " golden age of profound ignorance 
and undisturbed orthodoxy." f 

Traces of Universalism are found at this 
period among the Paulicians, who had already 
flourished some centuries ; and, in the eleventh, 
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, 
among the Albanenses, Albigenses, Cathari, 
and Waldenses, scattered through Italy, France, 
and Germany. At the end of the twelfth 
century it appeared in France, advocated by 
one Rainold, of the monastery of St. Martin, 
and, at the beginning of the thirteenth, proba- 
bly by Amauri, an eminent professor of logic 
and theology at Paris. % 

In the early part of the fourteenth century, 
there were twenty-four thousand followers of 
Walter Lollard, a Universalist, in Germany 
alone ; and, in the latter part of the same cen- 
tury, the Archbishop of Canterbury found Uni- 
versalism attracting so much attention in Eng- 
land as to make it worth his while to condemn 
it, in a formal Council. In the fifteenth cen- 
tury it showed itself in Flanders, in Italy, and 
probably in Spain. 

* Ancient History Universalism, Ch. vi. Sec. 15. 

I Ancient History Universalism, Appendix, Sects, i. to iii. 

% Appendix to Ancient History of UniveisaUsm. 



The Reformation. 

We thus approach the great Reformation. 
Begotten of principles of the first moment in 
religious progress, the Reformation was at- 
tended with results quite unanticipated. The 
human mind set free, boldly sought for truth 
wherever it might be found. 

The late Dr. Whittemore, — from whose 
work * mainly I condense the history of Uni- 
versalism from the Reformation to the time of 
Murray, — tells us that some of the leading 
Reformers themselves, such as Luther and 
Zuinglius, betrayed not a little hesitation in 
regard to the absolute endlessness of pun- 
ishment; and many, influenced by the gen- 
eral spirit of the Reformation, did not hesitate 
altogether to reject it. 

There were not a few of these among the 
Anabaptists, who flourished in Germany, Swit* 
zerland, and other countries, in the early part 
of the sixteenth century. The most promi- 
nent leaders of these in Germany were Denck- 
ius, Iletzer, and Pannonius, who distinguished 
themselves in authorship; the work of the first; 
mentioned being republished at Amsterdam a 
century later, indicating a demand therefor in 
that region. In lower Germany there pre- 
vailed a sect called Libertines, or Advocates of 
Spiritual Liberty, who rejected the doctrine of 
endless punishment. The Davidians, or Geor- 
gians, followers of one David George, a Uni- 
versalist, prevailed in Holstein, Friesland, and 
other countries. 

The severe persecutions yisited upon the 
Anabaptists and their sympathizers, in several 
of the Continental countries, accompanied in 
some cases by the penalty of death, led many 
of them to seek an asylum in England under 
the presumption that a Protestant country 
would afford them protection. In this they were 
sorely disappointed. Persecution still followed 
them, even with unmitigated penalties. Uni- 
versalism still spreading, the faith of the Church 
was recast under Edward VI., in the form of 
the Forty-Two Articles, in the last of which it 
was especially condemned. On the accession 
of Elizabeth this condemnation was expunged, 
leaving the members of the Church free to 
cherish the broadest hopes. It must be con- 
fessed, however, that the currents of spiritual 
life in that church do not naturally flow in 
that direction — whether from a hereditary 

♦Modern History of UniversalisSQ (New Edition )', Vol. i„ 7 
Book i, 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



33 



taint, descending from Rome, from a post-natal 
acquisition of pride, or from some other cause, 
does not clearly appear. 

Time of the Puritans. 

Coming now to the age of the Puritans, Uni- 
versalists, with other heretics, are persecuted 
with new vigor. The latter part of the six- 
teenth and the first part of the seventeenth 
century witness new parties in the conflict. The 
indignation of Parliament is poured out upon 
Universalism, but the heresy continues. The 
penalties of imprisonment and even death are 
inadequate to suppress the rational belief in the 
fullness of divine love. Gerard Winstanley bore 
testimony to the truth in several published 
works, one of which was issued during the sitting 
of the very Parliament which threatened such as 
he with imprisonment. "William Earbury, a 
popular preacher among the Independents, and 
Richard Coppin, at one time an Episcopalian, 
and at another a Presbyterian, ably defended 
the doctrine by speech and pen. The latter 
was indicted at Worcester for blasphemy, tried, 
and found guilty ; but the verdict was set aside 
by the judge. At a subsequent trial at Oxford, 
Coppin was discharged. ISTor were his legal 
persecutors more successful in their later en- 
deavors. After public debate with several 
leading champions, he was again thrown into 
prison, where he continued a prolific author. 
Not less than a dozen works, first and last, is- 
sued from his pen. Several anonymous works 
in defence of Universalism appeared about 
A. D. 1G60. Sir Henry Yane Ihe younger, the 
son of a nobleman, educated at Magdalen Col- 
lege, who became Governor of Massachusetts, 
and afterwards a member of Parliament, was a 
Universalist, and having opposed the restora- 
tion of the line of Kings, was honored by an 
execution upon the scaffold on Tower Hill, in 
1662. 

The Century before Murray. 

We have now reached to within about a cen- 
tury of Murray's arrival in America. That 
century is pregnant with evidences of Univer- 
salism in England, and in various parts of the 
Continent. From the nature of the case, his- 
tory having been chiefly in the hands of ene- 
mies, relatively few of the whole number who 
espoused it can have become known to us; and 
yet the number known is so great as to pre- 
clude more than partial mention. Rev. Jeremy 



White, Chaplain to the Protector, Richard 
Stafford, Jane Leadley, the founder of the Phil- 
adelphian Society, were all influential authors ; 
the latter numbering among her followers sev- 
eral distinguished persons, some of whom were 
themselves authors, such as Dr. Francis Lee, 
Dr. Pordage, Rev. Mr. Bromley, Dr. Edward 
Hooker, with many other persons of note, and 
some noblemen. 

Too well known as Universalists to require 
mention, but for the greater adequateness of our 
survey, are Dr. Henry More, Dr. Isaac Barrow, 
Archbishop Tillotson, with his defenders, Mr. 
Kettlewell and the eminent LeClerc, Dr. Thom- 
as Burnet, William Whiston, Sir Isaac Newton, 
Dr. Samuel Clarke, Bishop Warburton, Dr. 
George Cheyne and the Chevalier Ramsay, the 
latter not less a Roman Catholic than Univer- 
salist. The works of several of these men, as 
of the renowned WTuston, called forth much 
controversy, and led to the publication of coun- 
ter works, furthering, no doubt, in the end, a 
a knowledge of the truth. 

Passing several humble defenders of the faith, 
like Rev. John Barker, Samuel Colliber, Mr. 
Roach and Wm. Dudgeon, it should be remem- 
bered that Dr. Doddridge, Dr. Watts, and even 
Dr. Edward Young,* staunch believers in end- 
less punishment though they seem to be, have 
shown themselves, in some of their writings, 
ready to find consolatfon in a little reasonable 
doubt. 

Favorable to the sublime truths of the gos- 
pel, were William Law, the " ingenious " Dr. 
Steed, as he has been called, William Duncom- 
be, Soame Jenyns, Henry Brooke, Dr. Kippis, 
George Walker, Robert Robertson, Archdeacon 
Paley, Professor Ilcy and Dr. Lettsom. 

Universalism in Germany. 

In the meantime, the truth that cannot but 
gladden the hearts of all men, made progress 
in several continental countries, especially in 
Germany. For the cultivation of this field, and 
the development of this most important portion 
of the history of our doctrine, our whole Church 
is deeply indebted to Rev. Dr. Sawyer, Packard 
Professor of Christian Theology in Tufts Col- 
lege. From him we leam that among the ad- 
vocates of Universalism in Germany, for the 
two centuries preceding Murray's arrival in 
America, were John Scalidecker, Franciscus 
Georgius, Franciscus Mercurius, William Pos- 



*Mod. Hist. U"m, Ed 1S30, Appendix to Ch. It 



34 



UXIYERSALIST CENTENARY, 



tell— represented as an independent thinker, 
and one of the most learned men of his time — 
Theodore Raphael Camphuy.-en, Samuel IIu- 
ber, Professor of Divinity at Wittenberg, Ernest 
Sonner, Peter Serarius, John W lliam Peter- 
son — one of the most efficient Universalists of 
any age, doing more to advance the doctrine 
than any man since the time of Origen — George 
Klein Nicolai, or, as better known, George 
Paul Seigvolk, Gerhard, a Professor of Theolo- 
gy in the University of Rostock, and within 
the last half of the eighteenth century, Jung 
Stilling, and probably the great Immanuel 
Kant. Considerable numbers of men of less 
•weight added their inliuence, and various pub- 
lications, some attacking, odiers defending the 
doctrine, agitated the public mind ; so that, 
on the whole, a century ago, Universalism in 
Germany extensively prevailed. A few years 
later, whole sects avowed it ; and sixty years 
later (1829), a distinguished theologian of Con- 
necticut, Dr. D wight, on returning irom his 
travels through Germany, declared in reference 
to the eternity of punishment:, that he had met 
with but one person in Germany who believed 
it, and but one other who was wavering on this 
subject. 

Thus all along the pathway of human toil 
and trial has shone the light of hope. In Eng- 
land, in Germany, in Holland, in France, in 
Scotland, its genial rays were welcomed. Many 
a heart, else overburdened, was lined up into 
the confident enjoyment of divine love. Surely, 
my friends, with such a historic background, 
■we need not blush to honor the man who, life e 
a morning star, rose a century ago upon the 
darkness of American theology, and to-day 
blends his light with that of the fully risen sun. 

Let it be borne in mind that these defenders 
of the faith, scattered all along the ages, have 
iienerally been public men, many of them 
preachers, most of them authors, some of them 
distinguished civilians and men of high social 
rank. Every one of them had his immediate 
circle of influence, and, wi h many of them, that 
circle was a large one. The conclusion is that 
the number of believers in the doctrine of the 
o-reat salvation, at various times, and especially 
in the aggregate, must have been immense. 
And yet there was no attempt to organize 
under its banner ; no banding of believers in a 
separate church ; no great landmarks of its 
progress were reared ; no institutions embodied 
its transcendent hopes. To the eye of the cas- 



ual observer, England, Scotland, France, Hol- 
land, Switzerland, Germany even, would pre- 
sent an almost dead level of unbelieving con- 
formity. As a consequence, the attention of 
the non-reading world would be but slightly 
arrested, while the brilliant discoveries of tru.h 
would rise like bubbles upon the crest of the 
wave, break, and disappear forever. The dis- 
tinctive glory of the last century lies in the 
correction of this folly. In our rapidly im- 
proving organization, in our multiplying insti- 
tutions of learning and religion — institutions 
greatly enhancing our power and promise ; and 
much of that glory belongs to the present gen- 
eration. 

Landing of Murray. 

The landing of Murray on the New Jersey 
shore marks a new era in the history of Uni- 
versalism. A short, shrewd man, genial and com- 
panionable, with large abilities and quick wit, 
deeply devotional in spirit, tempered and disci- 
plined by sorrow, firm in faith and persistent as 
the "sun, he was well fitted to awaken an interest 
in the new cause. The few flashes of gospel light 
that had preceded his coming, in the teachings 
of Dr. George De Benneville, of Germantown,, 
Pa., Rev. Richard Clark, of Charleston, S. C, 
Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, of Boston, and pos- 
sibly some others, especially a sect of Baptists 
in Pennsylvania, had illumined apparently few 
minds, and quickened the germs of faith in few 
hearts. The colonies were a vast wilderness 
of theological error. The spirit of liberty, how- 
ever, intensified by our revolutionary difficul- 
ties, prepared the way for a favorable hearing 
in quarters which would otherwise have been 
inaccessible. 

During the first three years of Mr. Murray's 
ministry, from Sept. 1770, to Oct. 1773, he 
preached in New York and Philadelphia, and 
the regions between those cities. At the latter 
date, he made an excursion into New England, 
preaching in Newport, Providence, Boston, and 
many other places, reaching Portsmouth in the 
spring of 1774, where an invitation to a pasto- 
rate was declined. 

Settlement in Gloucester. 
His first visit to Gloucester was on the 3d of 
March, 17 74. A society was here organized, 
Jan. 1, 1779, and a church built in 1780. 
Meantime three other preachers had arisen, in- 
dependent of Mr. Murray, namely Adam Street- 
er, Caleb Rich and Thomas Barnes. Elder 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



35 



Rich was ordained "as minister of the united 
societies of Warwick, Richmond and JafFrey — " 
the former town being in Massachusetts, and 
the two latter in New Hampshire — not earlier, 
probably, than 1780, and possibly as late as 
1781. 

At about the same time, the close of 1 780, 
Rev. Elhanan Winchester, then in Philadel- 
phia, became a Universalist, and by his emi- 
nent abilities and popular address, achieved 
great success, rivaling, perhaps, in public favor, 
the distinguished Murray himself. 

Such was the result of the first ten years ot 
the century now closing — two societies, a few 
other congregations, and four or five clergymen. 
But there was one circumstance especially 
worthy of notice. Among the children in the 
town of Richmond, who were observant of the 
interest evinced by their fathers in the preach- 
ing of Caleb RLh, was a lad of less than ten 
years of age, whose name has since become a 
household word throughout our land. Ten or 
eleven years later, in 1791, we find him in the 
ministry, and his apostolic career you all well 
know, Hosea Ballou undoubtedly accomplished 
more for the kingdom of God than any other 
man of the century. 

"Weakness of our Canse in 1791. 
Of the strength, or rather weakness, of our 
cause at that time, Mr. Ballou has borne testi- 
mony. Sitting in his own pulpit, on an anni- 
versary occasion of his Sunday school, he said, 
.*' There is a better understanding of the gospel 
of our blessed Lord, and more ability to win 
souls to its acceptance, in that band of Sunday 
school teachers than in all our ministry when I 
£ entered it." 

"Winchester Profession. 

In 1785, the General Convention of Univer- 
salis ts, the body here sitting, was organized at 
Oxford, Mass., and the Winchester Profession 
was adopted by the Convention at the session 
in Winchester, N. H., in 1803. 

Made necessary by the legal exigencies into 
which Universalists were then brought, it has 
providentially saved us from all the evils of 
a long-drawn creed, and yet has firmly anchored 
us to the word-of God. Repeated attacks of 
infidelity within our own ranks have been suc- 
cessfully repelled, and it is now manifest that 
no amount of evasion or subterfuge can give a 
rejecter of Christian authority protracted influ- 
ence with any of our parishes or public bodies. 



Like a nation that has added to its external 
conque-ts the subjugation of a civil rebellion, we 
have conquered our wiliest foe. In this re- 
spect our experience is in happy contrast with 
that of others about us. 

Increase of our Strength. 

Thirty years from the beginning of Mr. Mur- 
ray's labors here, that is, in 1801, there were 
but twenty- two preachers of Universalism in all 
our land ; a dozen years later, in 1813, there 
were forty. Coming down twent}'-?even years 
to 1840, about half way to our own time, there 
were four hundred and sixty-thive. Now there 
are probably six hundred and fifty, with more 
than a thousand parishes. 

Nor does this increase in the numbers of our 
clergy show our real increase in strength. Our 
lists, latterly, have been more closely pruned ; 
our parishes have been greatly strengthened ; 
our bases of operations have been fortified ; our 
clergy have made great advance in " devising; 
liberal things ;" and our laity, possessing far 
greater wealth, and holding far higher social 
positions than foruierty, more nobly respond, 
and with greater alacrity, to the far-sighted de- 
mands now so frequently made upon them. 
There are scores of our parishes in the various 
sections of our Zion, any one of which can now 
be moved to a greater work for a worthy ob- 
ject outside its own interests, than could our 
whole Church twenty-five years ago. 

Educational Efforts. 

At that time we had no colleges, no divinity 
schools, no well-endowed academies. West- 
brook Seminary, in Maine, incorporated in 
1830, Clinton Liberal Institute, in New York, 
founded in 1832, with the Orleans Liberal In- 
stitute at Glover, Vt., and the Green Moun- 
tain Institute, at South Woodstock, Vt., which, 
severally, were but feebly, if at all endowed, 
were all the institutions of learning we could 
boast. 

As early as 1814, a seminary was projected ; 
and in the three or four following years, com- 
mittees were enjoined to raise the sum of five 
tiiousand dollars to carry the project into ef- 
fect. Nothing, however, was accomplished. 
Various other enterprises were meditated, from 
time to time, but were either never started or 
came to a premature end. 

But about twenty years ago, almost simulta- 
neously east and west, there were put forth 
well-considered efforts for the founding: of higher 



36 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



institutions of learning. The immediate results, 
after much toil, were Lombard University, in 
the west, and Tufts College in the east, both but 
meagerly endowed. A new impulse, however, 
seemed almost at once to move our whole 
Church, and its fruits have been most happy. 

St. Lawrence University, with its two pro- 
fessional schools, in northern New York ; Dean 
Academy, with its magnificent endowment, in 
Massachusetts ; Jefferson Institute, with its 
elegant edifice, in Wisconsin ; Green Moun- 
tain Central Institute, with its most solid and 
commodious structure, in Vermont ; Smithson 
College, handsomely begun, in Indiana ; Buch- 
tel College, so munificently assured, by Hon. 
John R. Buchtel, in Ohio ; and the strength- 
ening every way of institutions previously es- 
tablished, are the remoter results and the proph- 
ecy of a better day for our Church. 

Now we number not less than seven acade- 
mies, five colleges, established and establishing, 
Ihree professional schools, two of divinity and 
one of law, possessing an aggregate property of 
not less than two millions of dollars. 

Fifty years ago our whole Church stood ap- 
palled by the proposition to raise five thousand 
dollars for educational purposes ; now we have 
two millions invested and employed to the 
same end. Twenty years ago, some of our 
wisest men were in grave doubt whether, in 
all our land, we could raise a hundred thou- 
sand dollars for the founding of a college. Not 
only was this accomplished, but there has been 
contributed, for the same general purpose? an 
average of a hundred thousand dollars a year^ 
ever since , and in our centenary period alone 
we are proposing to raise millions. Surely, 
"■ to him that hath shall be given, and he shall 
have abundance." 

Religions Literature. 

In the domain of religious literature, there 
are issued in the interests of our Church, six 
weekly newspapers, two semi-monthly, three 
monthly publications, one quarterly and one 
annual, with I know not how many volumes 
devoted to theological and biblical discussions. 
Five of these periodicals^ and more than a 
hundred and twenty-five volumes, including 
commentaries on the entire New Testament, are 
from our Publishing House, Boston, whose as- 
sets are not less than $40,000. Exclusively a 
public interest, as soon as its rapidly diminish- 
ing debt is extinguished, its profits, already 
amounting to several thousands a year, will ac- 



crue to the Church itself. In the mean time, 
the learning and ability of our book issues, and 
the elevated tone of our periodicals through- 
out the country, are exerting a most salutary 
influence upon the progress of our cause. 
Theological Changes. 

With such instrumentalities in hand, look 
abroad upon your field of labor. How 
changed the face of the theological world I 
A century ago, it was night. Now the Sun of 
Righteousness shines from the heavens. A 
century ago, innocent women trembled at the 
very thought of God, and the repose of child- 
hood was disturbed by the terrors of infernal 
dreams. Now timidity itself looks hopefully 
unto heaven, and the tender youth delights in 
a Father's love. 

Who to-day believes that the sin of the first 
pair corrupted the whole realm of nature, not 
only making human obedience? without miracle? 
impossible, but creating the manifold evils of 
life ? Who to-day believes that sin gave birth 
to the claws, the teeth, the gastric juices, and 
the corresponding instincts of the beasts of 
prey ? Who to-day believes that it is the 
cause of the thunderbolt, the earthquake, the 
tornado, the pestilential winds? and the gene- 
ral severities of climate ? Who now believes 
that it is the primal source of the physical 
deaths which these occasion? or of the waste of 
which death is but the consummation ? Who 
bow believes that our recuperative energies., 
which repair this waste by the appropriation 
of nutriment J or that the adjustment of the? 
heavenly bodies^ necessary to the changing 
seasons and the autumnal harvests affording 
this nutriment, though manifestly parts of the* 
same grand scheme^ were occasioned by 
Adam's sin ? Confessedly, ** Great is the mys- 
tery ot godliness ? " but faith in these doc- 
trines is happily no longer reckoned an element 
of godliness. Original sin no longer means the 
sin of having parents, but the evils which attend 
the blessings of hereditary laws. Total deprav- 
ity? that darling creation of Augustine, in the 
fourth century, and the very corner-stone of Cal- 
vinistic theology in the sixteenth, without which 
the doctrines of particular election, sovereigns 
grace and miraculous regeneration could have 
no place, no longer means " inability to do a 
good deed, speak a good word, or think a good 
thought," but merely more or less imperfection 
in all that we do. Indeed, "the five points" of 
Calvinism^ as they used to be called have suak 



GLOUCESTER, 



37 



below the horizon of theological controversy, 
and are as little known to the present genera- 
tion as are the cycles and epicycles of the 
Ptolemaic system of astronomy. 

Long after the premises of an argument 
have been swept away, however, the conclu- 
sion may remain. The fundamental principles 
of the darker theologies have yielded to the 
light of science and the force of just criticism; 
but vague forebodings, in regard to the des- 
tiny of the race, have not wholly lost their 
power. A wonderful advance, however, has 
been made in the last century. At home and 
abroad, the literal fires so long maintained by 
the churchj burn low ; and conscience is more 
■widely recognized as the divine avenger, in 
whatever world retribution is experienced. 

Divine Judgments Constant. 

In like manner, faith in the formalities of a 
fixed and literal j udgment day, when an overt 
and extraneous condemnation shall be visited 
upon the guilty soul, is giving way to the doc- 
trine, both biblical and philosophical, of a per- 
petual judgment day, here and now, in which 
the uniform action of the moral sense awards 
approbation to the good and condemnation to 
the bad. 

Nor can this exposition of the divine judg- 
ment be overturned except upon the hypothe- 
sis of an utter denial of retribution in this 
world. If there be retribution here, there 
must be preceding arraignment, trial, deter- 
mination of guilt, and condemnation here, and 
these, however effected by the various laws of 
God, are essential judgments. "Now," says 
Christ, "is the judgment of this world," 

We shall look almost in vain to-day for lead- 
ing philosophic minds, who will deny the cur- 
rent retributions of life. It is, perhaps, among 
the more marked characteristics of the pulpit 
ministrations of our time, that they illustrate 
and emphasize those spiritual laws of our 
being, which involve, here and now, our chief 
good ; and which give significance and value 
to all other good. 

The importance of this element is begin- 
ning to be keenly felt. I will not deny that 
some philosophers are wary, and seek to turn 
aside the issue, while others broadly recog- 
nize it. 

Jouffroy's Doctrine. 
Jouffroy, the distinguished French ethicist, 
is of the latter class, He says, " Every being 



has his own peculiar nature ; and this nature 
destines him to a certain end ; . . . and, 
■were we fully acquainted wiih the nature of a 
being, we might thence infer his destiny. . . 

. . From the moment when an organized 
being begins to exist, . . . its nature tends 
to the end to which it is destined.'' As our 
author goes on, he represents reason as com- 
prehending these principles, and through such 
comprehension, aided by conscience, involving, 
of course all the complexities of moral experi- 
ence, tending to the realization of man's high- 
est good. * 

-John Stuart Mill's. 
John Stuart Mill indicates his acceptance 
of a sound philosophy of retribution, by hig 
rejection of the unsound, though long received. 
Of the latter he says ; " It holds out the hope 
of heaven and the threat of hell, as the ap- 
pointed and appropriate motives to a virtuous 
life, in this falling far below the best of the 
ancients, and doing what lies in it to give to 
human mortality an essentially selfish charac- 
ter, by disconnecting eich man's feelings of 
duty from the interests of his fellow creatures, 
except so far as a selfrinterested inducement 
is offered to him for consulting them." f 



Herbert Spencer's. 
Mixed with a somewhat singular 



tli. 



eory 



the utility of error, in undeveloped minds, as 
temporarily serving good ends, the doctrine of 
natural retribution is substantially aiiirmed by 
Herbert Spencer. lie says, " To see clearly 
how a right or wrong act generates consequen- 
ces, internal and external, that go on branching 
out more widely as years progress, requires a 
rare power of analysis. To mentally repre- 
sent even a single series of these consequences, 
as it stretches out into the remote future, re- 
quires an equally rare power of imagination. 
And to estimate these consequences in their 
totality, ever multiplying in number while di- 
minishing in intensity, requires a grasp of 
thought possessed by none." % 

President Chadbourae's. 

Of those perceiving the retributive power of 
conscience, and yet unconsciously seeking to 
conclude against the adequateness of that ret- 
ribution, 1 may mention President Chadbourne 
of one of our Western Colleges, formerly Fro- 

* Introduction to Ethics, Lee. ii, 
t^lill on Liberty, p. 96- 
JFirst Principles, p. 117, 118. 



38 



UNIVERSALIS! CENTENARY, 



fessor in Williams College. " Conscience," 
says he, "is the monitor and ruler of man. and 
there is no peace for him but in following its 
commands. It not only brings punishment for 
wrong doing by its action, but it docs this 
chiefly by a foreboding of other punishment to 
come. The idea of futurity seems ever linked 
with it." * 

Now it is well settled in the realm of moral 
philosophy that the practical workings of con- 
science are made up of two elements ; the first 
one being the product of the empirical reason 
— that is to say, of reasoning — by which we 
judge not only what is right and what is wrong 
in a given case, but also when, where, and 
how we are liable to be rewarded or punished 
therefor. This is the realm of conviction, of 
belief. It is the fruit of education and of rea- 
soning, It is variable, being different in differ- 
ent persons at the same time, and different 
in the same person at different times, accord- 
ing as his information in respect to right and 
wrong is extended. 

The other element in the workings of con- 
science is the idea of right and wrong — a con- 
ception of the substance of the rule of right — 
born of the a priori reason, and accompanied 
by a sense of obligation, and consequent ap- 
proval or disapproval, peace or woe, according 
as we seek to obey or disobey its divine behests 
in applying it to any given case. This element 
is invariable ; being the same in all men who 
have come to any moral responsibility. 

Now our woe in wrong-doing, President 
Chadbourne recognizes as punishment. Of 
course it is the divine chastisement, as it comes 
of divine law. Will he assert that a law di- 
vinely established for our present retribution, 
is inadequate ? or that it does its work chiefly 
by prophecy? That the idea of futurity so 
frequently connected with it lies in the invari- 
able condemnatory element of conscience, and 
not in the variable educational element ? That 
conscience prophecies other punishment than 
its own in the next world on any other grounds 
than those on which it prophecies other pun- 
ishment in this world ? Is it not anticipated, 
in both cases, simply because we are taught to 
anticipate it ? Besides : what is that "other 
punishment to come," which conscience fore- 
bodes ? Are the penal fires of a former age 
still burning ? If not, would it not be a little 
odd, in the workings of law, were conscience 



to punish us now, and yet that the chief part 
of that punishment should consist in a proph- 
ecy that the same conscience will punish us 
more by-and-by ? 

President Hopkins. 

Rev. Dr. Hopkins, President of Williams 
College, appears to be an exception to our re- 
mark. If I understand him, he substantially 
denies present retribution. In a very able 
work recently published,, he says of conscience, 
"It affirms obligation before the act, approves 
or disapproves after the act, and in doing this 
indicates future reward and puni>hment." * 

He does not appear to regard it any part of 
the office of conscience to punish, thus differ- 
ing from President Chadbourne. Indeed, he 
expressly denies that it does punish. He says, 
" The consiliences within the moral being 
hii^elf, of violating obligation, the shock that 
may ensue, whatever that may be, is not pun- 
ishment. Ifc cannot be. Punishment is the 
vindication by a person through some positive 
infliction, of violated rights Gov- 
ernment being by authority, is an expression 
of Will, and if punishment is to sustain govern- 
ment, that too must be, and must be known to 
be, an expression of the same will. .... 
Evil from the laws of nature regarded as im- 
personal, is not punishment." f 

That is, I suppose, " Evd from the laws of 
nature regarded " as blind forces, and as the ex- 
pression of no will, would not be punishment." 
Very well, but why so regard them ? Are not 
the laws of nature established by the divine 
will ? Are not their inflictions expressions of 
that will? Are not the pangs of a violated 
conscience as well known beforehand a any 
other consequences of law, and known to be a 
divine infliction ? And can it be that the in- 
fections of conscience are no part of the divine 
penalty for sin ? Is modern theology driven 
to the strait of denying the common sense of 
the world in regard to the infliction of punish- 
ment by conscience. Is it seen that if God 
here and now punishes men through conscience 
for their transgressions, that such punishment 
is undoubtedly adequate ? In asserting the ne- 
cessity of -" positive inflictions," does this 
learned divine mean to say, that the very na- 
ture of government, is such that God cannot 
establish it, in the soul of man, by laws which 
will execute themselves ? In thus abrogating 



Natural Theology, p. 280. 



* Tlie Law of Lore, and Love as a Law, p. 
t lb. pp.241, 24^. . 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



39 



the punitive power of eon- 
lie too fall back upon penal 



theoretically, 
science, does 
fires ? 

Some twenty years ago, in public discourse, 
our author said, (I quore from memory), " He 
who seeks and attains the highest good, name- 
ly, righteousness, does in that very success at- 
tain all compatible subordinate good, " * Such 
a man evidently is adequately rewarded, un- 
less he merits some good not compatible with the universal^' of the diviue love, enjoining 
righteousness. The philosophy of this re- upon all men the obligations of fraternal aflee- 
mark is pointedly opposed to that of the pre- tion, and begetting the hope that, forever, in 



li-t tastes. Let there be but a presumption 
that an is^ue of any other than the Universa- 
lis t press teaches Universalism, and it* sale 
will be as wide as the continent. The "Minis- 
ters wooing," "Old Town Folks," and '-Gates 
Ajar" illustrate this remark. The works of 
Charles Dickens, are far more emphatic illus- 
trations of the eame truth. The vhole current 
of his writings is tempered by the doctrine of 



ceding, and is, in my judgment greatly to be 
preferred ; especially as it is endorsed by the 
Savior : "Seek first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness and all these things shall be 
added unto 3 ou." 

However there may be individual exceptions, 
I am sure that the great mass of thinkers to- 
day regard the laws of nature, and the laws of 
our moral being especially, as retributive agen- 
cies in the hand of God ; administering both 
rewards and punishments ; and preceded, 
therefore, by all the realities of the divine 
judgments. What modifications these funda- 
mental principles require in the theory of the 
future life, I need not stop to show. 

Tone of the Modern Pulpit. 

They are indicated, however, in the change 
of tone in the leading pulpits of our country, 
of which the popularity is in the ratio of their 
liberality and hopefulness. Of course there is 
much heaving of the earthly elements beneath 
them ; much taking hold and letting go ; much 
criticism and counter criticism. But a con- 
tinual shifting of philosophies in defence of the 
barbarous, as in the "Conflict of Ages," and 
in the basing of endless punishment upon end- 
less sinning, rather than upon the sins of this 
Hie; a breaking away of giant minds from the 
thrall of petrified creeds ; the adoption of an- 
nihilation here, of pantheistic absorption there 
and of vague uncertainty in other places, to 
avoid the necessity of affirming final woe even 
of a tingle soul — an affirmation which, when 
speeiheally made, arouses the indignation of 
almost the entire secular press — all show- 
that the aggressive power of truth is deeply 
and widely felt. 

Tone of tlie Heligious Press. 

The religious literature, also, of the sects 
about us indicates the prevalence of Universa- 



Uefore Boston Young Men's Christian Association. 



the language of Tiny Tim "God v ill bless us 
every one." 

The poetry of the age is a marked exhibi- 
tion of the fact, that the profoundest emotional 
drift of the genius of the world is into the open 
places of God's favor. * 

From the fugitive and newspaper issues of 
the various sects, we come to the same conclu- 
sion. Rarely now do these rise to the explic- 
itness of former times in their affirmations of 
the severer doctrines ; except, perhaps, the is- 
sues of the American Tract Society, for which 
nobody in particular is responsible, and which 
apparently emanate from a region unillumined 
by divine grace. Some of the newspapers, 
though begotten in all the darkness of theolog- 
ical gloom, and speaking at first with all the 
sharpness of sectarian narrowness, have been 
tempered to the gentleness of the cooing dove, 
and, at length, like the New York Independent, 
avowedly bursting their cerements, hare risen 
in light and beauty — things of joy forever. 

Re-statement of Doctrines Difficult. 

This growing dissatisfaction with the nar- 
rowness of their former faith, is manifest when- 
ever the sects attempt a re-statement of their 
doctrines. The Congregationalists, at their 
Convention in Boston, a few years ago. wrestled 
long with the problem, how they could state 
what they themselves have come to believe, 
without appearing to deny v. hat the fathers be- 
lieved. And it was not until they had adjourned 
to the tombs of Plymouth, and had evoked the 
shades of the Puritans, that they were able, 
even "for substance," to reaffirm the faith of 
old ; and all farther attempts to clothe that 
"substance" in verbal forms and make it a 
living thing of to-day, were, by common con- 
sent abandoned. 

A natural sensibility to the demands of jus- 

* See " Testimony of the Foots.'' 



40 



UNIVERSALIS!' CENTENARY, 



tice and to the more generous impulses of the 
heart, has disposed not a few of the best minds 
anions; the Baptists, like Rev. John Foster, of 
England, to cherish the hope of the final re- 
demption of the race. 

The Jews, also, appear to be returning, or to 
have returned, to their most ancient faith. At 
a recent meeting of Rabbis, in Cleveland, 
Ohio, in view of the "religious commotions now 
agitating the public mind in both hemispheres," 
six propositions were unanimously declared, of 
which the last points to the ultimate unity of 
the race, and indicates the supposed means of 
its attainment : 

" We expect the universal elevation and fra- 
ternization of the human family to be achieved 
by the natural means of science, morality, free- 
dom, justice and truth." 

Boston Pulpits. 

Ifthetoneof thinking in certain localities 
may be taken as an indication of the faith of 
the wider public, the prospect is most hopeful. 
The growing sect of Unitarians has almost 
wkoiiy cast off its former reserve. I suppose 
that of a hundred and thirty pulpits in Boston 
to-day, taking all religions together, in very 
few, if any, are the chilling doctrines of divine 
wrath proclaimed as of old, while in at least 
thirty-five to forty, the most encouraging views 
of the efficiency of divine grace are openly nur- 
tured. 

Overthrow of Slavery. 

Nor can we overlook the influence of Uni-. 
versalism upon our civil institutions i 

The growth of the idea of the common brother- 
hood of our race has made this idea a "consum- 
ing fire," and slavery has disappeared, great- 
ly enlarging our field of labor. Where Sherman 
mavched with musketry and cannon, the church 
militant can now march with the "sword of the 
spirit." It is now manifest that while the em- 
bodiment of great social injustice in the domes- 
tic institutions of a people, is no barrier to the 
progress of the limitarian churches in their 
midst, it absolutely excludes Universalism. We 
thus have a divine refutation in the very prov- 
idences of God, and on a broad scale, of the 
long standing charge that Universalism is 
grateful to the carnal heart. Every lineament 
of its visage is the home of the social virtues — 
justice, mercy, love and truth. 
Drift Abroad. 

This most gratifying drift of thought, appar- 
ent in our own land, may also be seen abroad, 



both in Great Britain and on the Continent. 
The English Church, whatever may be its nat- 
ural tendencies, has never been without emi- 
nent expounders of the ultimate efficiency of 
divine grace. In our own time, as well as in 
the time of Cromwell, such men have been 
found in intimate relations to the Court. Rev. 
Stopford A. Brooke, Honorary Chaplain in Or- 
dinary to the Queen, has clearly indicated his 
faith in the world's redemption, not alone as 
biographer of Rev. Frederick W. Robertson, 
himself a believer, but more recently in a vol- 
ume of sermons marked by a deeply religious 
tone. 

The Unitarian Church in England, also, un- 
like its namesake in this country, has been 
open in its defence of Universalism from the 
beginning. Those motives of prudence, for- 
merly urged upon them by American Unitari- 
ans, and which have now ceased to have influ- 
ence even here, were never made effective in 
suppressing the glorious gospel of the blessed 
God. 

The English Unitarians have ever exhibited 
their independence and love of liberty by af- 
firming, the American by denying. The 
French, in this respect, have followed the Eng- 
lish. Led for many years by the late distin- 
guished Athanase Coquerel, they have defended 
in the clearest and most emphatic manner the 
sublimest doctrine of the gospel. 

But I must not continue this very inadequate 
survey. The light which has arisen upon the 
several European countries, and by which not 
Great Britain and France alone, but Switzer- 
land, Germany and other lands have been 
blessed, is relatively inefficient, because unem- 
bodied and unassured. It. is fitful, unsteady, 
transient. Embodied in institutions of learn- 
ing and religion, it becomes a sun in the heav- 
ens, illumining the whole firmament, and 
transforming by its glory every object in na- 
ture. 

In this respect, as well as others, the Uni- 
versalist church of America is a most impor- 
tant contribution to the civilizing forces of the 
world. Begun, like Christianity, in the lower 
walks of life, it flung its unequivocal banner to 
the breeze, and hung it proudly on its outer 
wall. Inscribed with the impartial love of 
God, it was borne by our fathers in the van of 
every conflict, and waves to-day in unprece- 
dented splendors. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



4 1 



The Fathers. 

To those fathers we owe*an incomputable 
debt of gratitude. Clergy and laity alike 
braved the malignity of the church in an age 
of great sectarian bitterness. Though socially 
ostracised, they marched boldly Zionward, and 
brought the church in gladness to the mount of 
God. They were sturdy men, of whom any 
cause might well be proud. 

Others, whose names leap to our lips for ut- 
terance, in mere recent times have gone to 
their rest, distinguished for their learning, fidel- 
ity and great sacrifice. Some of these have 
wrought their very lives into the institutions of 
our church — institutions which will forever re- 
main their proudest memorials. 

Such worthies have we the honor to succeed. 
Their mantles have fallen upon our shoulders. 
Shall we prove ourselves worthy our trusts ? 
Have we consecrated ourselves to our work, as 
they consecrated themselves to theirs ? Has 
Christ by his spirit baptized our souls? Are 
we living his life, laboring in his strength, 
and rejoicing in his hope ? Do we feel, as we 
ought, that it is through " Christ's constrain- 
ing us" that we " can do all things"? Do all 
our energies express themselves in the divine 
formula of prayer, " Thy kingdom come " ? 
In the midst of life's trials and disappoint- 
ments can we say, " Not my will, but thine be 
done "? 

Do we fully appreciate the opportunities of 
the present hour? Shall our Centenary work 
fill up the scope and grandeur of its design ? 
It is yet too early, perhaps, to determine this 
question ; but the enthusiasm with which the 
work has been entered upon, the oneness of 
spirit and purpose throughout the country with 
which it has been pursued, and the uniform 
success attending local efforts, are pledges' of 
success in the entire field. The more difficult 
portion of the work, the raising of the Murray 
Fund, has made good progress. The weekly 
reports show State after State, in various sec- 
tions of the country, falling nto line with those 
whose quota is complete. The women of our 
Church have especially distinguished them- 
selves in these labors, abundantantly justify- 
ing the pre-eminence customarily accorded 
them, in personal consecration and Christian 
work. 

Centenary Period. 

It seems inevitable that our Centenary period 
must ran on into next year. Many enterprises 



prompted by its spirit and begun last year 
are developing this, and will demand another 
to reach their maturity. Local obstacles have 
held in check some sections of our Zion ; and 
an apathy, from which they are but tardily 
aroused, may have delayed others. But, belore 
the period shall have wholly passed, [ am con- 
fident that the call of God will be heard, and 
every branch of Zion will put forth its 
strength. 

Few are the details which have come to 
hand. The returns are as 3 et incomplete 
even in Massachusetts ; but enough is here 
known to assure us that, aside from its quota 
of fifty thousand dollars of the monumental 
fund, it has thus far pledged for general pur- 
poses not less than three hundred thousand dol- 
lars. It is well known that New York also, and 
the great Northwest, are putting forth unwonted 
efforts. I cannot doubt that when our churches 
all along_the lines in all the larger and the 
smaller States shall have .spoken, their united 
utterances will be millions. 

But valuable as these millions will be, as an 
arm of power, still more valuable will be 
our deepened sense of strength, unity and 
zeal in our Master's cause. With a proper 
appreciation of the possibilities of the hour; 
with, our hundreds of clergy and well appoint- 
ed parishes, as strengthened bases of opera- 
tion ; with our improving press and religious 
literature: with our Publishing Houses of 
growing strength, East and West ; with our 
relatively well-endowed and multiplying insti- 
tutions of learning ; with the greatly increased 
general resources which a returning summer 
should find in our hands ; and with a field 
white already to harvest, it. cannot but be that 
united and persistent effort will be crowned 
with a success transcending all assignable 
limits. The close of another century ought 
to witness the thorough leavening of the civ- 
ilized world. The temper of the world makes 
it possible ; all the omens prognosticate it : the 
spirit of our holy religion prophecies it. Re- 
member that 'the gospel is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth." 
Remember the Itevelator's prophecy, " I am 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, 
the first and the last." And, if the way seem 
long, remember the lesson of the ages, that 
"one day is with the Lord as a thousand 
years, and a thousand years as one day." 



42 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



MEETING IN THE TENT. 

Wednesday Afternoon. 



The convention met at the tent, and so 
great was the crowd that it was found impos- 
sible to accommodate all, and an open air 
meeting was therefore improvised in the 
neighborhood of the tent, where a large con- 
gregation was addressed by Rev. Dr. J. E. 
Forester, Rev. J. G. Bartholomew, and 
others. 

Before the meeting was called to order at 
the tent, Rev. H. F. Ballou, of Vermont, exhib- 
ited the last cloak worn by the Rev. John 
Murray, which he said had been handed clown 
as an heirloom in his family ; but as he did not 
feel that he was entitled to wear it as a man- 
tle, if he could see some one whom he thought 
could fill it, he should be very glad to dispose 
of it ; or he would give it to the Convention 



on condition that they would agree to find 
some safe place of deposit, where it could be 
kept until another Centennial Convention. 

The President, on calling the convention to 
order, stated that the first business was to 
hear the report of the committee on educa- 
tion. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Brooks, it was voted, 
that when the convention adjourn, it be to 
meet at seven o'clock in the evening, at some 
place to be announced by the President, for 
the purpose of considering the report of the 
committee on revision of the constitution. 

Rev. Dr. Brooks then moved that the re- 
ports on Education, State of the Church, and 
Sunday Schools be submitted by their titles, 
Carried, 



Address of Rev, R. Fisk, Jr., &,B, 



Rev. Dr. Eisk, of Canton, N. Y., was then 
introduced, and addressed the convention as 
follows : — 

I have been invited, with others, to make 
ten or fifteen minute speeches upon the 
reports. You who are accustomed to public 
speaking know very well how much easier it 
is to make a half hour or an hour speech than 
a ten minutes speech. The necessarily brief 
time into which we are to throw the words 
which we have to say concerning these re- 
ports, forces me, particularly upon this report 
on education, to adopt, very much in opposi- 
tion to my own convictions and methods, the 
cramming system in my speech. I have, m a 
general way, but a few words, therefore, to 
offer at this time. I am very sorry, however, 
if you have not the report on education 
before you, that its headings and something 
of its character have not been stated to you ; 
for therein rests the foundation upon which 
certain remarks which I have to make are to 
be made. I shall, therefore, offer what I have 
to say in a more general way than I purposed ; 
and I wish to put it in the form of two ques- 
tions, and indicate the answers to those ques- 
tions. 



I wish, in the presence of this atfgust mul- 
titude and assembly y to ask this question, 
first, What are we more than any other 
organic branch of the Christian'Churck ? Why 
have we a right to be independent, as -a 
church, in the great movements of the relig- 
ious world of our age ? If we can but indicate 
the true answer to this question, then I be- 
lieve we have the great reason for putting 
forth vigorously our efforts for the endowment 
and establishment of schools of education. I 
therefore put this question first concerning 
our church, concerning the existence of our 
denomination, as leading to a true answer to 
the question why, in the midst of a land where 
there are so many educational institutions, 
we put forth all our efforts and exhibit our 
self-sacrifice to establish schools of our own r 
What are we more than any other organic 
branch of the Christian Church? 

Now, it is a grand thing for any people to 
have arisen with a distinctive idea in the 
Christian Church, — so distinctive as to have 
caused them to stand apart from all the rest,, . 
if not by their own will, then by the will of 
others, who would not have them stand toge- 
ther. It is a grand thing, I say, to have such 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



43 



a distinctive idea, and to have stood forth and 
battled for it, and even though, after one hun- 
dred years, we but now find ourselves with an 
assured position in the Church, yet if, after 
that one hundred years, we stand upon an 
assured position, conceded by all Christian 
people, within the lines and bounds of the 
Christian Church, then, I say, it is a grand 
thing for any one to have had any part in 
such a conflict; and to-day it is a grand thing- 
to have a part in this celebration of the victory 
which we have achieved in securing that posi- 
tion in the future. 

And now, I wish to say this one thing, 
which I believe to be a new argument that 
to-day has been completed in the heart of 
Universalism, and which furnishes a sufficient 
cause for the existence of the denomination 
as a distinctive branch of the church. I 
mean this : that we have been the educator of 
the world upon one of the most important 
questions which to-day is agitating the minds 
of the religious people of this country ; I 
mean, more particularly, the liberal-minded 
religious part of the Orthodox churches of the 
land. Where there is not a profound conviction 
that the old theology is true, and that every 
thing is an error, there is necessarily a query 
existing in the mind as to whether the old 
dogmas of the Church are really essential to 
the existence of the Church, or to the truth 
and goodness which the Church has in its care. 
If, therefore, we as a people have demon- 
strated this grand truth, which I believe we 
have, then we have achieved one of the mo- 
mentous successes of the religious age in 
which we live ; namely, we have shown to the 
world that there can be a Christian Church 
rooted and grounded in the Christian Scrip- 
tures, firmly attached to the one Rock, Jesus 
Christ ; and with all the spirit, with all the 
energy, with all the consecration, with all the 
self-sacrifice that are essential to carry for- 
ward the religious and the educational move- 
ments of our period, without any one 
of the old motives to piety, to self-sacri- 
fice, or for obedience to God which 
the Orthodox church, even in its liberal 
forms, maintains are necessary to-day. I say, 
we stand before the world as a Christian 
church, utterly bereft of and having castaway 
all the old hopes of heaven for having done our 
duty, and all the old fears of hell if we do not 
do our duty. Therefore we stand before the 
world in this new aspect, of a church grounded 
in the Scriptures, loyal to Jesus Christ, and 
yet going forward with zeal and determina- 



tion to do the work of the Church of Jesus 
Christ and establish his kingdom in the earth, 
without any of those old motives and incen- 
tives which we have been told so many times 
are absolutely essential to the perpetuity and 
maintenance of a Christian church in this 
wicked world. 

I say, this is wherein we are more than any 
other branch of the Christian Church to-day; 
and I tell you, I maintain that it is a new 
argument for Universalism; for if we can 
prove, as we are now able to demonstrate* 
that the doctrine of endless damnation is a 
useless doctrine in an educated land, then we 
have shown to the world a new argument, 
which utterly does away with that which God 
has no longer any need of in this world, and 
which especially man has no longer any need 
of. However we may regard, in the light of 
general intelligence, the existence of certain 
old, erroneous ideas and dogmas, in the disci- 
pline and education of the world, yet, when 
the world grows to that point wherein it dis- 
cerns that the old idea is an error, then the 
world casts it aside, while still the grand and 
noble movements of the world go on without 
it, although that idea may have been held and 
cherished as a profound truth by those who 
have been engaged in the noblest works and 
reforms of the world. 

Then, I say, in the first place, we are edu- 
cators of the Christian Church universal upon 
this one great point, — that you can have all 
that is essential in the teachings and the life 
of Jesus Christ, and carry on his church, inde- 
pendent of the fear of hell or the hope of 
heaven as the chief incentive. 

I was reading, the other day, the last lecture 
of Max Miiller on the " Science of Religion." 
He finds — what the theologians of our denom- 
ination have from the first asserted — that 
there is some good and some truth in every 
religion that has been indigenous to the 
human race ; that there has been some good 
and some truth in all, subserving God's provi- 
dential purpose in the discipline or education 
of the race. Max Miiller has now discovered 
that on the scientific method which he is able 
to institute ; and to those who to-day object 
to his discovery — as many able and even 
learned men do, seeing great mischief and 
scepticism in it — he makes this reply : " They 
say, on the other side, that these old religious, 
these old heathen mythologies, exhibit so 
many terrible, ghastly and blighting effects in 
the history of man, that the little germ of 



44 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



truth which perhaps they may have had is no 
evidence that whatever religion they may 
have had was not wrong, and base, and un- 
founded. So I can affirm with regard to the 
purest religion on earth to-day; I can affirm 
equally with you against the old heathen 
mythologies, that the Christian Church has 
also exhibited the very foulest things that 
can be said of the most terrible superstitions 
into which the mind of man can be h d." But 
the thing to which I wish particularly to call 
your attention in Max Miiller is this; that, 
in reply to these objectors, he places the doc- 
trine of endless punishment among those 
excrescaices of the Christian Church and 
Christian religion which are the offsets to the 
throwing of innocent children to Moloch, in 
the old heathen mythologies. 

Here, then, we stand before the world, a 
church shorn of the excrescence of the doc- 
trine of endless punishment; and we say that 
here we can present before God and man the 
evidences of our hearty interest and our pro- 
found belief in the Christian religion, with a 
zealous purpose to carry forward the reforma- 
tion and salvation of the world in the line of 
the doctrines of the Savior of the world. 

My other question is this, and then I am 
done : What is a Universaiist college or 
theological school more than any other col- 
lege or any other theological school? We 
are pitted against the old ideas. We stand in 
the Christian Church, in the eyes of the world, 
for the doctrine of the discipline of God in 
the punishments he inflicts upon men. As 
you have been eloquently told this forenoon, 
the other idea is that of probation, with a 
denial of the discipline and providential ad- 
justments brought about by the exigencies and 
experiences of this world. Here, then, is 
Probation versus Discipline. Here is a world 
in which God is holding us up to a higher 
Christianity, which we maintain is the salva- 
tion of the world when attained. 

Here, then, are schools distinctively out- 
side of all other schools that you can name. 
Whether they are ecclesiastical or unsecta- 
rian, our schools peculiarly stand by them- 
selves. We are attempting a higher course 
of education, — the preparation of a class of 
men for the ministry who shall be thoroughly 



drilled, thoroughly disciplined, thoroughly in 
fused with the dea that the discipline of Goel 
for the human family is that which a father 
may hold over his children; and there is not 
another institution in this land, except ours, 
that stands distinctively upon these ideas at 
the base of its educational system. 

Therefore, to the first question in the Re- 
port, "What are we to do?" I say this: we 
are to go forward resolutely, endowing amply 
our schools, and inculcating, through our 
teachers, our professors, and the officers of 
those schools, these grander ideas which shall 
reconstruct the whole faith of the world; for 
it is not saying too much to say that the doc- 
trine which we peculiarly cherish, and which 
has created us as a people and a church, has 
been and is to be as fundamental in the recon- 
struction of the religious ideas of the world, 
as has been the discovery of the law of gravita- 
tion in reconstructing Hie old ideas concerning 
this material universe. One reaches just as 
far, just as universally, just as deep as the 
other. That which is paralleled, therefore in 
the physical world, by the law of gravitation, 
we find in the moral and religious world in the 
idea of the universal love and persistent good- 
ness of Almighty God. 

I beseech you, then, beloved brethren, let 
us go forward establishing our schools and 
our colleges, and so endowing them that they 
shall be able to present not only the intellec- 
tual record that is essential to compete with 
other institutions, but also a record of a 
higher Christian theology and moral disci- 
pline than the world has yet unfolded in any 
system; because to-day, we as educators in 
your schools are not able yet to find the wri- 
ter upon moral or intellectual philosophy who 
adequately sets forth these ideas, which we 
alone most amply and squarely represent. 
Therefore, what we are to do is to go on with 
our schools, raising up scholars who shall 
have an intellectual discernment and grasp 
which is ample enough to correlate all these 
grander moral and physical forces, and to 
show men that equally with the law in the 
physical world, there is an eternal law in the 
moral world which shall match it and equal it 
forever and ever. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



45 



Address of Prof. W. R. Sliipman. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : The subject to 
which I propose to devote the few moments 
allotted to me in the discussions this after- 
noon, is the intimacy of that relation with 
the educational world to which w T e have 
already attained, and hope hereafter to attain, 
by means of the denomination represented 
here to-day, the currents of whose life have 
never flowed so full, so strong - , so free as now. 

The report which is before you makes no 
very large claim for the work which has been 
done as yet by our denomination in behalf of 
education ; but, taking this as an earnest of 
wiiat shall be, as a guarantee of the spirit of 
our people, calls attention to that lying before 
us which should be done. But the little we 
have done has been of value to us, — a value 
that cannot be over-estimated. It has helped 
to continue our life to the end of this hun- 
dred years. Not the life of those ideas which 
have the assent of this denomination ; that 
seed grain, once planted, its increase is in- 
sured ; but the life of the organized denomi- 
nation. That life I venture to say, has been 
greatly strengthened by even the little that 
has been done by our people in the way of 
schools of different grades ; for the connection 
we have had with education has furnished us 
with something to do ; and doing has kept us 
from dying, as it always will. While we are 
turning our faces in upon ourselves, while 
we are discussing endlessly the various topics 
which arise within our organization, our 
efforts are paralyzed, we are preparing the 
way for death. It is only as w T e have some- 
thing upon which to lay our hands, something 
to which to address our efforts, something to 
do, that we are in a way of growth that can 
be called life, that shall insure life. 

And not only has this work furnished to our 
hands something to do, but even already it 
has shown us the results of our doing, for our 
encouragement for the greater efforts to 
come. Even now, when called upon to show 
what evidences of vitality there is in the 
Universalist denomination, are we not ready 
to point to what has been done by our people 
for schools within the last twenty or thirty 
years ? We have nothing that more completely 
expresses our determination to do, we have 
nothing that shows more plainly the results of 
our labor. Not only this, but w T e have been 
helped to understand ourselves. And of this 
we had need. In taking hold of the work of 



education, we have put ourselves into compe- 
tition with other Christian organizations all 
about us, most of whom had possession of the 
field before us. We have been brought to a 
trial of strength with them, and sometimes 
we have failed to equal their efforts. It is 
worth much that we know wherein we have 
failed; worth perhaps as much as to know 
wherein we are strong enough to insure good 
results hereafter. But the little we have done 
shall be increased. There seems to be no 
reason w 7 hy we cannot go on and take the 
foremost place in the educational work of this 
country. Certainly, our doctrines have not 
been known to flourish best in times of dark- 
ness. We have sought the light. There 
seems to be no reason why a faith so large 
as ours, why aspirations such as ours, why 
hopes so lofty as those which are cherished 
by our people, should not result iu the great- 
est work, even in secular education, that can 
be done. 

Assuming that we shall go forward, what 
may we count on as the result of our w T ork in 
time to come? How shall our connection 
with the educational interests of the land 
insure us life, — insure us life for another 
hundred years from this time, and, it may be, 
for hundreds of years,— as an organized Chris- 
tian denomination ? This w 7 ork, with our other 
work, will help to bring us abreast of the 
times. We have takeu hold of the educational 
work because it was something to be clone. 
Not because, like the Catholics, w T e propose 
always to confine all education within our 
own limits, but because we have found a 
need, in our experience, of certain schools to 
be established and maintained. Recognizing 
this need, we have taken hold of the work; 
we have found ourselves, brought into sym- 
pathy with the times; we have made our- 
selves in a degree useful to those with whom 
our lot has been cast; and it is only as 
we identify ourselves with the interests 
of the times that we can hope to 
live. There are some interests that are 
sure to abide. Enlightenment must extend; 
the world must move on in that career of 
progress upon which it has entered, and any 
system which discards the wisdom of modern 
times is sure to die; any system which 
opposes itself to the increasing enlightenment 
of the age is sure to die. It is only as we 
take hold of those movements that are iu 



46 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



progress in the world, that we insure our 
own life. 

The educational interests are among the 
leading interests that can be guaranteed to 
stand the same a hundred or five hundred 
years hence as now; and if we succeed in en- 
terprises of education, we shall be prepared 
to succeed in other enterprises. If our eyes 
are once lifted in this direction, our vision 
will be enlarged, and our ideas will be exalted 
on all things ; and in this way, pursuing this 
line of work upon which we have entered, we 
shall be cherishing a worthy pride within our 
borders, we shall be doing a work to which 
we may point, glad to indicate it as our work. 
And whose are the honored names to which 
now we point with glad affection? If we have 
named those whose labors and sacrifices es- 
tablished us as a people, are we not ready to 
name those who, in these later days, in the 
last ten or twenty years of the hundred 
which we celebrate to-clajr, have identified 
themselves with our interests, have com- 
mended themselves to our love, by endowing 
these institutions from which we hope to reap 
the fruits hereafter? After the names of 
Murray and Ballou, do not the names of 
Tufts and Goddard rise readily to our lips? 
Are not the names of those living among us 
dear? Do they not already draw to them our 
honoring regard, our reverent affection, — the 
names of Dean, of Buchtel, and others 
that might be added ? To what can we point 
with more affectionate regard than to the 
efforts which are being made in this direction? 
A work which draws forth the sympathies of 
men and women for such enterprises as these, 
a work that draws forth the sympathy and 
affection of the whole denomination, stretch- 
ing over the broad land, should not fail. That 
work must be of vital and of lasting import- 
ance to those who have undertaken it. 

But let me say, in conclusion, that we have 
nothing to hope for as we look forward to the 
future of our educational interests, unless we 
rest all our hopes on the quality of the work 
that we shall do. It is only as we shall be 
able to do gcod work, only as by-and-bye we 
shall be able to do the best work, that we shall 
draw to ourselves the strength that may come 
from the right fostering of educational insti- 



tutions. We are not to go forth asking 
patronage for our schools because they are 
ours, but, being ours, we, in the discharge 
of our duty, are to make them such that they 
shall compel patronage. It is only as we pro- 
vide the instrumentalities for educating the 
people, it is only as we open the way to an 
education in some respects higher or broader 
than any denomination, that we can go 
before the public, and ask for sympathy 
and patronage. Our school system must 
abide. Our education can never be 
hemmed in within the lines of sect or party. 
We, then, if we would maintain ourselves as 
educators in this land, must make our educa- 
tion better than any other that can be afforded. 
And the more we do for our schools, the more 
they will do for us. Whatever may be their 
grade, they all stand waiting for your favor. 
Not one of them whose efficiency would not 
be more than doubled were its resources 
doubled ; not one of them is doing what it 
could do ; not one of them is doing what it 
ought to do ; but every one waiting for more 
of that favor in which, thus far, they have 
stood ; waiting to send you back an increase 
for your investments and your labors that can 
come to you from no other way in which you 
can invest money and labor. And thus, 
while we labor for our schools, they work 
for us ; and while they shall draw the best of 
our life, they shall increase our facilities for 
work in other directions, and shall strengthen 
our hands for whatever work may be given us 
to do. 

The report of the Committee on Education 
was then adopted. 

The President. If Mr. John R. Buchtel, 
of Ohio, is in the tent, he is requested to come 
to the platform. Some friends waut to see 
him. 

Mr. Buchtel came forward, and the Presi- 
dent introduced him to his "friends," which 
comprised the whole audience, as follows : 

Members of the Convention, — I am very 
happy now to introduce to you a gentleman 
who has recently contributed, as a part of the 
work which he is to do in this centennial year, 
thirty-one thousand dollars for one of our 
literary institutions. (Loud applause.) 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



47 



Address" of Mr. John R- BucMel. 



My Brothers and Sisters, — I do not think it 
is fair that I should be called from oat this 
congregation upon the stand. I consider that 
the President practised a deception upon me 
in asserting that there were some friends here 
who wished to see me. 

A Voice. " We all want to see you." 
(General applause.) 

Another. "We are all your friends." 
(Renewed applause.) 

Mr. Buchtel. It is well known to some of 
the gentlemen on this stand that I am not in 
the habit of making public speeches ; that is 
not my forte, if I have any. But I say, 
brothers and sisters, that I am glad to meet 
you. I am glad that I have been blessed with, 
this God-given privilege to see you all. (Ap- 
plause.) In what I have done, I have clone 
no more than I considered it my duty to do ; 
and I hope, if I live, that 1 may be blessed 
and prospered, that I may do still more. 

I have one request to make of this Convem 
tion, and that is, to stand by their institutions 
of learning. Ko institution of learning can 
be conducted without money. I w 7 ould espe- 
cially call upon the ministers that are from 
Ohio to stand by the college that we expect to 
establish in the city of Akron, 0. Not many 
of you, probably, have seen our flourishing 
little city. It is a wide-awake, go-ahead 
Yankee town — if I am a Dutchman myself. 
(Great laughter and applause.) 

A few w T eeks ago, while in the city of Cleve- 
land, a clergyman for -whom I have great re- 
spect, and with whom I have had a great 
many pleasant business associations, said to 
me that he was very sorry I had invested so 
much money in an institution that had no in- 
fluence and no strength. Now, I was think- 
ing, while sitting in the congregation this 
forenoon, and listening to our worthy brother, 
that if my Cleveland friend could only be 
upon this platform and look into the faces of 
this intelligent audience, he would admit that 
he was mistaken, I want you to stand by 
me, and I want to satisfy that brother that 
the word " failure " is not to be found in the 
dictionary of the denomination to which we 
belong. (Applause.) 

I do not know as I should call myself a 
TJniversalist. I have only come in at the 
eleventh hour. I have been united wdth this 
church but a very few months. I belonged to 
one of the so-called evangelical churches 



when I was a boy ; but when I came to inves- 
tigate and think for myself, when I came to 
reason for myself, I found I was out of 
my element, that I could not stay in the 
church, and I left it. I was honorably dis- 
charged. (Laughter.) After I had left, the 
church commenced to persecute me. They 
called me an infidel. I never had heard but 
one or two Universalist sermons in my life ; 
but when I came to investigate the doctrines 
and principles of TTniversalism, I found I had 
been a "TJniversalist for twenty-five years. 
(Applause.) 

Now, my brothers and sisters, I hope you 
will excuse me, for I have been, probably, a lit- 
tle noisier than I should have been. You must 
excuse me, because the church to which I 
formerly belonged was the Methodist church ! 
(Great merriment.) 

Rev. T. J. Sawyer, D.D., then made an 
appeal to the audience for contributions to a 
fund for the purchase of a German library for 
the use of Tufts College. 

Tue President. After the admirable speech 
of Bro. Buchtel, it has been suggested that 
our friends will feel just in the mood to do 
the thing that it would seem must be done at 
this convention ; namely, to raise some more 
money than has yet been raised for the pur- 
pose of doing the legitimate work of the 
convention. I propose now to introduce to 
you some of our friends, who will explain the 
needs of the convention, and tell us something 
in regard to our duties in that respect. 

Rev. Mr. Bartholomew then made a state- 
ment in regard to the wants of the Conven- 
tion and the necessity for the raising of money 
to pay the amount which had been borrowed, 
as shown by the Treasurer's Report, to carry 
on the operations of the General Convention 
during the past year. He made an urgent ap- 
peal to the friends present to contribute lib- 
erally in order that the great work in which 
they were engaged might be carried forward 
successfully. 

Rev. Dr. Ryder followed in an address of a 
similar character. It is all very well, he said, 
to sing these hymns, to crier these prayers ; it 
is all very well to shout "Jubilee," and thank 
God for victory ; but I tell you, if we are to 
do anything as a church on earth, we must have 
the right arm of financial power. (" Amen.") 
If you want to build up Universalism, pour 
out your money here this afternoon. If you 



48 



UNIVERSALIS!? CENTENARY. 



believe in God, testify it by this expression of 
your gratitude. If you believe in the Univer- 
salist denomination, do something toward 
building up that denomination ; and as we arc 
grateful (as grateful we are), here and now, by 
the surges of the sea, and in the midst of this 
sublime presence, let our gratitude speak 
louder than all other exhibitions of our power, 
testifying before one another and before God 
that we are not only united, strong, and ear- 
nest, but generous as well. 

Dr. Ryder concluded by introducing Rev. 
Dr. Eolles, who, he said, "expected to make 
a few feeble remarks." (Great merriment.) 

Rev. E. C. Bolles. Ladies and Gentle- 
men. — The great northwestern elephant 
has gone over the bridge, and it has not 
broken through. I guess I am safe? 
(Laughter.) 

Dr. B. then proceeded to state some of the 
difficulties under which the Eoard of Trustees 
had labored during the year, from the want 
of funds, and expressed the hope that the 
devotion and self-sacrifice of the great as- 
sembly would equal its numbers and enthusi- 
asm. i\ll enthusiasm, said he, is valuable 
only as it coins itself into substantial acts; 
all self-sacrifice is precious only as it lifts us 
out of the domain of the merely shadowy and 
ideal to serve, in a practical way, the kingdom 
of our Lord which we profess to love. It is 
not simply the office of this ocean which lies 
so grandly at our feet to dash upon the rocks 
when the storm rages behind it ; nor yet to 
twinkle with its many glancing waves beneath 
the sun or the moon, but to bear upon its broad 
bosom, as the highway of nations, the fleets 
of the world. So the magnetism of this con- 
vention will not be simply in the dash of its 
enthusiasm, the splendor of its rhetoric, the 
warm fraternity of its greetings, but will be 
in its acts of generosity and justice; and this 
aet, if you relieve your trustees of the bur- 
den which re<ts upon their minds to-day, will 
be one of generosity and of justice combined. 

Rev. Dr. Oiiapix. Mrs. Partington said she 
had great objections to being introduced to 
anybody she was not acquainted with; and, 
although I have the happiness of being 
acquainted with a great many of you, I have 
the unhappiness not to he acquainted with 
you all. I am the poorest beggar in creation; 
I can't beg; I don't know anything about it. 
All I can say is, that if you lake up the sub- 
scription in the time I am talking, it will be 
the quickest subscription ever heard of. One 
of the brethren wanted to know if I wouldn't 



endorse a note for this amount of $15,000. I 
w r ould gladly endorse the note, but I hope 
some one will sign it, or you will have a hard 
time collecting it. (Laughter.) 

I can only stand here and say, as has 
already been said, that this is a practical tes- 
timony of our gratitude upon an occasion like 
this; a practical, embodied, crystallized ex- 
pression of our faith in the work which has 
been done in the hundred years that have 
passed ; it is the way in which we touch the hun- 
dred years to come. We reach out our hands, 
moved and warmed by the impulses of our 
hearts, and shake hands with the old fathers 
of the past; and we reach forward to-day, by 
this practical action, and shake hands with the 
young and coming future. When we shall 
have mouldered in our graves, when other 
centenaries shall have followed this, the influ- 
ence of your action may be felt, and speak 
with trumpet tongue, to rouse other genera- 
tions to still higher and nobler action. I 
therefore say to you, as Dean Swift did when 
he was called upon to preach a charity sermon : 
"He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the 
Lord. If you like the security, down with the 
dust!" That was his sermon. In no way 
can you advance our cause so practically as 
by the action you are called upon to take. 

We are about starting forth upon a new 
voyage of another hundred years. We have 
commemorated the past. Our sails are set; 
they are filled with a favoring breeze ; the 
banner of Christ's universal love waves over 
us. The good ship rides bravely upon the 
deep. Fire all along the line one grand salute 
of greenbacks! (Loud applause.) This is 
the most practical way of honoring the past 
and blessing the future. 

Hon. P. T. Barnum, of Conn., offered to 
give $100, provided nine other persons would 
agree to give $100 apiece. After some 
urgency of appeal on the part of Dr. Ryder 
and Rev. II. F. Miller, of Indiana, the requi- 
site amount was raised ; and then it was pro- 
posed to raise another thousand dollars, in 
$100 contributions, which was done, and 
something more, the contributors being Chas. 
Stickney, of New York; Hon. Mr. Mason, of 
Penn. ; F. Mackin, N. J. ; I). C. Gately, Conn. ; 
1. C. Lewis, of Meriden, Conn.; Hon. S. C. 
Hubbard, of Micldletown, Conn. ; Samuel F. 
Hersey, of Bangor, Me. ; Josiah Barbour, of 
Auburn, N. Y. ; Sara'l Druilard, of Buffalo, 
N. Y. ; Robt. Fears, Gloucester, Mass., ($200) ; 
Dr. Daniel Ranson, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Geo. W. 
Townsend, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Mrs. Philo Price, 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 49 

of Williamsburg, N. Y. : Benj. Lombard, of total of collections and pledges being about 

111.; Chas. E. Carpenter, of Providence; $2,800. 

James M. Jacobs, Henry B. Metcalf, and This work having been performed, Rev. Dr. 

Newton Talbot, of Boston ; Ira Tafft, of Brooks announced that through the kindness 

Bennington, Vt., and some other friends of their friends of the Orthodox Church, that 

whose names were not given. B. F. Romaine, building would be opened for the business 

of New York, gave $50, and a collection session in the evening, and the Convention 

was taken up amounting to about $600; the adjourned. 



50 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



"WOMAN'S CENTENARY AID 
ASSOCIATION. 



On Wednesday evening, the Universalist 
Woman's Centenary Association held a pub- 
lie meeting at the Universalist church 
Gloucester, which was attended by one 
of the largest congregations gathered, out- 
side of the tent, during the jubilee clays. 
Long before half-past seven, the hour fixed 
for the meeting, the spacious church was 
densely packed, — the women, as was fitting, 
largely preponderating, — and probably as 



many more were unable to obtain admittance, 
and turned disappointed away. In this state of 
things, it was deemed advisable to anticipate 
the hour announced for the commencement of 
the meeting, and soon after seven o'clock, the 
exercises commenced with the singing of a 
hymn by the choir, after which Mrs. Caro- 
line A. Soule, of New York, the President 
of the Association, delivered the following 
address : — 



Introductory Remarks of tlie President. 



Out of the fact that we as a denomination 
had been blessed with an hundred years of 
life, there arose a duty — a duty too positive 
and too solemn to be disregarded. Summed 
up in a single sentence, that duty was the ex- 
pression of our gratitude to God for all the 
mercies vouchsafed to us and to the beloved 
gone before. 

There is but one way in which the finite can 
express its gratitude to the infinite. " Lovest 
thou me ? " said Jesus to his disciples. " Feed 
my lambs." 

Here is the lesson for all people — for all 
time. If we would testify our love to God, we 
must do good to those whom God loves, — in 
other words, to the world at large. Having 
drank ourselves of the waters of Eternal 
Life, shall not we hold a brimming cup to the 
lips of others? Having eaten ourselves of 
the Bread of Heaven, shall we not lead other 
famished ones to the same bounteous Hand? 
Having been solaced ourselves in days of 
mourning, having been upheld in days of 
weakness, having had the veil lifted from our 
own eyes, and been permitted to look " over 
the river," and see a Heaven broad enough for 



all the children of God, shall we not make 
every possible effort to bring others of the 
sad, the weary, the doubting of the human 
race into that same bright, beautiful, blessed 
faith which has sanctified to us all the dispen- 
sations of Providence ? 

Recognizing the loving wisdom of the olden 
lesson, the Centenary Committee determined 
that all our Centenary work should be practi- 
cal. They might have decreed that each of 
our States should bring up stones from its 
quarries, and erect here, on this, to us, holy 
ground, a monument that should tower high 
towards Heaven. Instead, they decreed that 
each State should gather up its dollars, and 
bring them up to this Mecca, and thus raise a 
fund that should be a perpetual reminder of 
our Centenary year, — a fund consecrated by 
the sainted name of the first herald of our 
faith in America. 

To assist in raising this fund — the Murray 
Fund — the Woman's Centenary Aid Associa- 
tion was organized in the City of Buffalo one 
year ago. The results of that organization are 
to be made known to you at this time. 



Report of the Corresponding Secretary. 



Mrs. F. J. M. Whitcomb, Corresponding 
Secretary of the Association, then read the 
following report : — 

When at the General Convention in Buffalo 
it was decided to raise two hundred thousand 



dollars as a permanent fund, the ladies were 
called upon to assist in this great enterprise. 
Desirous to show their willingness to aid in 
a cause which is equally vital to them, they 
immediately set at work. The initiatory step 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



51 



was to call a woman's meeting. It was the 
first one ever called by them at a General 
Convention. They were comparatively stran- 
gers to each other — strangers to the work 
before them. It was believed there was 
ability enough to carry on any portion of the 
work assigned them ; but their labors thus 
far had been mostly confined to their own 
societies, and their knowledge of each other 
extended little beyond their own localities. 
But from this strange unassimilated body 
came an organization now known by Univer- 
salist women throughout the land as the 
" Woman's Centenary Aid Association." It 
was thought by the General Committee that if 
the women raised ten thousand dollars of the 
iuud they would do Well ; — how far we have 
succeeded the Treasurer's Report will show. 
But however successful we may have been 
in a pecuniary point, I estimate it as small in 



comparison to that greater gain which comes 
from the moral influence of our individual and 
united effort. 

And as we bring our offering to the great 
centennial gathering, I can but congratulate 
each one of you upon that perfect bond of 
peace and unity, which binds us in a common 
sisterhood. And our desire is that the work 
so well begun shall not now be ended, but 
that our bond may be made brighter and 
stronger by years of united effort, that when 
the next centennial year rolls round, and we 
shall all be gathered to that home where labor 
is love, that there may be those left on this 
spot who will bless the day when mothers and 
daughters, wives and sisters, took up their 
line of march in the great struggle for Chris- 
tian humanity. 

On motion, the report was accepted. 



Report of the Treasurer. 



The Treasurer, Mrs. J. G. Adams, then sub- 
mitted her report, as follows : — 

Received from Massachusetts, $11,825.50; 
New York, $5,801.22; Maine, $3,115; Illinois, 
83,278.87; New Hampshire, $1,101.17; Con- 
necticut, $1,990.10; Vermont, $SG5 10; Rhode 
Island, $filG; Pennsylvania, $1,021.25; Ohio, 
$262; Iowa, $219,32; Indiana, $231.25; New 
Jersey, $155; Michigan, $135; Minnesota, 
$2,307; Wisconsin, 8101; California, $39; 
Washington, D. C, $75; Kansas, $15; Mary- 
land, $25; Virginia, $23; Nebraska, $18; 
Missouri, $17. Total, $33,359.88 

The report was, on motion, accepted. 

The President. We will sing the sixth 
hymn on the programme — "Blow ye the trum- 
pet, blow!" (Enthusiastic applause.) 

Mrs. E. H. Cobb. I move that the thanks 
of the Association be presented to the Presi- 
dent, Vice President, Treasurer and Secre- 
tary, for the faithful, persevering and suc- 



cessful manner in which their labors have 
been performed in the great work in which 
they have been so perseveringly engaged. 
All those in favor of the motion will manifest 
it by saying "aye." 

The motion was carried amid great ap- 
plause. 

The President then stated that she had 
hoped to be able to present to the audience 
every one of the gifted women of the denom- 
ination who had occupied either pulpit or 
platform, and letters had been sent to them 
all, but some were not able to be present. 
They sent their cordial greetings, and the 
assurance that they should be here in spirit, 
and look with great interest for the report 
of the meeting. 

Believing, said Mrs. Soule, that Massachu- 
setts should speak first on this occasion, I 
have the pleasure of introducing to you Mrs. 
Bowles, of Cambriclgeport. 



Address of Mrs. Bowles. 



Mrs. President and Ladies and Gentlemen,— 
I think you will all agree with me, that it 
requires no ordinary amount of courage to 
speak, whether yon are a woman or a man, 
after such a report as that to which we have 



listened, followed by such a blast of trumpets. 
I think that I came to Gloucester with a very 
small measure of sense, and I think that the 
larger portion of that has been shaken out of 
the t;ps of my fingers in the continuous 



52 



UNIVERSALIS? CENTENARY, 



greetings of this tented field. But what little 
I have left enables me to see that this is not 
the place for me to make a long- speech, so 
that, in the few words I have to utter, I wish 
to speak of the work that our people have 
done here in Massachusetts, and to testify to 
the readiness, the eagerness, indeed, with 
which our women have entered into this 
work of gathering up this Murray Fund. 

Let me speak a few words in attestation of 
the devotion of our own women in our own 
parish, — the first Universalist Parish of Cam- 
bridge. I was appointed to collect the money- 
there, but owing to some engagements of my 
own, the work fell into the hands of my hus- 
band. I know it was very pleasant work for 
him. He had hardly to call upon a single per- 
son for money. It came in voluntarily, in 
sums from one dollar to three hundred dol- 
lars, until it rolled up to more than a thousand 
dollars ; I think the total amount exceeds 
$1,200. You know that parish has been under 
good training ; under such men as Dr. Paige 
and Dr. Whittemore. 

I felt this morning, as we were gathered in 
the great tent, and listened to that grand 



occasional sermon, where Dr. Miner showed 
us so plainly that our blessed faith was coeval 
and coincident with God himself, Oh ! what 
a glorious amen is rolling out on this rocky- 
shore, from God's priesthood by the sea ! What 
an amen is going up from all these gathered 
hearts ! And then my mind went back to the 
time, some twenty years ago, when over that 
same rocky shore, and over that very field, I 
wandered godless ; when God was to me but 
a being of wrath and vindictiveness, that no 
human heart, as it seemed to me, could wor- 
ship; and as I listened to the Saobath bells, 
pealing thro' the summer air, I marvelled that 
the bells to such a God could ring so sweetly. 
But after a while, when from this old church 
tower there came to me that blessed peal, I 
felt that it was a continual call to 

" Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
Ring out the lalse, ring in the true." 

So I came to know that there was a God 
whom every heart could worship in spirit and 
in truth; and I rejoice that our women to- 
day have an opportunity to do so much for 
the spreading of this blessed Gospel of glad 
tidings. 



Address of Rev. Miss. A. J. Cliapin ? of Iowa. 



Bear Friends and. Members of this Associa- 
tion, — I have come to you from the far west, 
and I have to regret that I am not so familiar 
with the workings of this woman's Associa- 
tion as I wish I were. My own endeavors 
during this centennial year have been wholly 
given to the channel of the general work. I 
have been associated with the missionary- 
work of the west in several of the different 
States more or less actively, but in this 
Woman's Aid Association I have done very 
little, except to wish with all my heart that 
this blessed work of theirs might be crowned 
with abundant success. 

I have been delighted beyond expression 
with the reports I have heard. The splendid 
results that you have achieved, are worthy of 
Universalists. 

In the West, we intend to do our part of 
this work. Much remains to be done in the 
next three months, and then we shall send 
our report to the Treasurer, and perhaps it 
will appear that we have done our part also. 

I am delighted with the work that woman 
has found it her privilege and within the 



scope of her ability to do during this jubilee 
year of our great church. It is peculiarly 
fittings that women should work with enthu- 
siasm and with zeal, that we may bless the 
church with cur abundant offerings upon the 
altar of truth. Universalism, the great prin- 
ciples of truth that we received with the doc- 
trine of the great redemption, has made 
woman what she is; has done for woman all 
that has brought her up irom the realms of 
barbarism, I might say, to the proud position 
that she occupies to-day. The great principle 
of the Gospel, " There is neither male nor 
female, bond nor free, Jew nor Gentile, out 
ye are all one in Christ Jesus," is the uplifting 
principle that has blessed the world and 
brought woman up from the condition of slav- 
ery and ignorance to her present position ; 
when multitudes of our best schools open 
wide their doors to her, and when she no 
longer ignorantly looks on that which is hap- 
pening under the sun, but looks over the 
world with comprehensive views, and sees 
with clear vision all that is done. She sees 
what the errors of the past have been ; she 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



53 



sees what the needs of the future are, and 
she sees that one of the great needs of the 
time is, that she shall come up to a perfect 
comprehension of her own influence in the 
world. 

We have been told what that influence is. 
Let us, sisters, use our influence in its widest 
power. To this gospel of the great salvation 
which has done so much for us, which com- 
forts every mother's heart in the hour of 
bereavement, which blesses the world, and 
comes to every needy heart with a benedic- 
tion which to the poor, the suffering and the 
tempted is just what they need, and which 
glo rifles all the blessings of our prosperous 
hours, — to this faith, it is peculiarly proper 
that woman should consecrate herself. 

When, after long struggles, through ways of 
darkness, with no one to counsel, a child in a 
school of an opposite faith, I came to a knowl- 
edge of this great truth, it seemed to me a 
foregone conclusion, that there could be noth- 
ing in this world for me to do but to give 
my powers and my life to the promulgation 
of the great, the glorious truth, whieh is the 
one thing whieh this world needs to bring to 
us the dawn of the millenniuni morning, when 
upon every tented field that can be found upon 
the face of this whole earth there shall come 



forth, not conquering hosts, sweeping over 
the earth, and bringing bloodshed, suffering 
and ruin in their train, but the armies of the 
Prince of Peace, as they come from this tented 
field. And! look to the influence of woman 
in the future, added to the influence of our 
brother man, who has so long and so grandly 
w 7 orked — I look to her influence and to her 
work, as she shall wisely use the abilities 
whieh God has given her, to hasten on the 
time when on every tented field we shall hear 
the triumphal notes of the Gospel, and the 
hosts of Zion shall go forth to victory; when 
the kingdoms of this world shall be subdued 
and become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, when there shall be " one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism," and " w T e all shall be one 
in Christ Jesus." 

Miss Graves, of Massachusetts, was then 
introduced, and addressed the audience very 
briefly, apologizing for not making a long- 
er speech by saying that she was not a good 
extempore speaker, and she had not prepared 
any address for the occasion, as she had in- 
tended to do, when she received the invitation 
to speak. 

After singing by the choir, Mrs. Mary A. 
Liveraiore was introduced, and was received 
with hearty applause. 



Address of Mrs. M. A. Livennore. 



My Friends,— It is no new thing for women 
to be interested in the work of the Christian 
church. When the Lord Jesus Christ com- 
menced his ministry, aud coming out before 
a Pagan world, said, " If any man or woman 
desires hunger, thirst, nakedness, persecution, 
the dungeon, the fagot, death, let them follow 
me," women gave him a large following. 
They were always his beloved disciples, — 
hanging on his lips, ministering to his wants, 
following him even to the dreadful cross, 
w T eeping over him, as their dead hopes also 
compelled them to weep, as he was laid in the 
sepulchre, and they were first at the grave on 
the morning of his resurrection, with the ha.f 
born hope within them, that perhaps their 
Leader was not dead. 

All along through the early years of the 
Christian Church, which history shows us 
traced with blood, you can follow the foot- 
prints of women, tracking their way with 
Uoody feet. The doctrines of Christianity 



were dear to them. Christ came into the 
world and found woman a slave. Everywhere 
she was under the ban of sex. Even 'n Eome, 
where grand things were done, whjre epics 
w r ere written, where statues were carved that 
are immortal, the life of woman was so 
worthless that she threw it away in suicide, 
until at last the Roman Senate passed a de- 
cree, so that women who committed suicide 
had their own modesty violated, and that 
alone restrained them. But with the coming 
of Christ, womau began to come up. She 
heard the voice of God in the new dispensa- 
tion saying, " Come out of your graves," and 
to-day, what women are enjoying in Christen- 
dom the world over is due largely to this 
blessed religion that Jesus Christ introduced 
into the world. 

The apostle Paul found large and grand 
helpers among women. He received them 
gladly; and those who will take the trouble 
to look again into the New Testament, and to 



54 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



read a Jittle more carefully, will see a new 
meaning in the language of the apostle, who 
gave the right hand to women, as workers 
and helpers in the largest and noblest way. 

When religious sects began to be formed, 
women came to the front almost immediately^ 
Death had no terrors for them. When they 
fully understood what Christianity was, they 
were willing to take it to their hearts, although 
it conferred upon them only martyrdom. 
Looking into the early history of the Baptists, 
with which I was for years more acquainted 
than with the history of any other denomina- 
tion, I saw very early in life how much that 
church owed to its women missionaries. My 
mind goes back to the little humble home 
where sat my father and my mother, my 
father reading aloud, in a voice husky with 
emotion, and with tears streaming down his 
face, the wonderful history of Ann ilaseltine 
Juclson, the first missionary sent by that 
denomination to India. Then, when I began 
to look into the remarkable history of the 
Methodist church, I saw how largely the mar- 
vellous success of that denomination was clue 
to the enthusiasm, the inspiration and the 
activity of woman ; how John Wesley invoked 
the aid of women; how women talked, 
labored, preached, and went from house to 
house making converts. And it is largely 
owing (the Methodists themselves being wit- 
nesses) to the fact that the women of that 
church were the grandest helpers they ever 
had, that to-day it is so large, broad, gener- 
ous, and is the pioneer of our American civ- 
ilization; for, if you shall go out to the very 
utmost western boundary of our country, I 
will promise you, that though you may be a 
thousand miles from a railroad, though you 
may find nothing but an adobe hut or an ordi- 
nary tent, you will be sure to find there a 
Methodist minister. 

It has been so all the way through. Women 
have always come to the help of Christianity. 
They have given it grand service. Macaulay 
attributes the vitality of the Roman Catholic 
Church largely to the fact that it utilizes all 
the forces within it. The Catholic Church 
has quiet retreats for the mystics; it has 
wars for the martially disposed; it has 
prayers and penances for the pious ; it has 
miracles for the ignorant; it has libraries for 
the scholars ; and the power and services of 
its women it has used to the utmost. Mother 
Angea, converted from Protestantism in the 
city of Philadelphia, has founded in Indiana 
an order of nuns which is increasing im- 



mensely from the very first families of the 
country; and under her tutelage, assisted by 
the most accomplished Catholic nuns of the 
country, there are to-day five hundred Prot- 
estant girls, not one of whom shall go out into 
the world from under that roof until she is 
inoculated with the doctrines of the Catholic 
Church. Madam Galway, as she is known to 
the American world, the chief of the Order of 
Sacred Hearts, an order recruited from the 
noble families of Europe, is at the head of 
one hundred and eighty convents in this 
country and elsewhere, all taken together. 
She is to-day erecting a convent building in 
St. Louis, and has expended upon it, I think, 
$250,000, collected from servant girls, washer- 
women and poor women who have no spare 
money. And this is but one of one hundred 
and eighty institutions more or less like it. 

These are but two instances of w T hat the 
Catholic Church has done. I take the 
broad ground, that if a Christian church, be 
it called by whatever name it may, ever con- 
quers the world to God, ever wins this sin- 
stained, sin-scarred earth to the great God 
that loves it, it must conscript all its forces — 
the men, the women, the children — every sort 
and kind of talent. There has already been a 
very great waste of moral power in all the 
churches, and that waste of moral power Irs 
been large in our church. "Until within a very 
short time, Universalist women have done 
comparatively little, in a cohesive and organ- 
ized way, for their faith. They have gotten 
up fairs to help eke out the minister's salary ; 
they have very often held festivals to put a 
bell or a clock in the steeple, to buy a Sunday 
school library, or to do some other work of 
this kind ; and that is honorable work, which 
can never be omitted, and they are deserving 
of all credit for it. But until within this last 
year, Universalist women have never under- 
taken any very great enterprise for their 
church. When I took up our denominational 
papers a year ago, and saw that the General 
Convention at Buffalo, then in session, had 
devised great things for this centenary year, 
and that immediately there had sprung up the 
embryo of a Woman's Centenary Association, 
I had no faith in it ; I did not believe it would 
amount to anything. 

Universalist women were not very well 
acquainted with one another; they had no 
organization in the States that bound them 
together ; they had not learned to work toge- 
ther, and I did not believe they could get into 
working order and accomplish anything be- 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



55 



foro the centenary year was over. They have 
rebuked my disbelief in the most splendid 
manner ; and at last, under the impetus and 
excitement of their work in various ways, I 
myself, during the last six months, have 
united in it : and to-night, as the result of 
what they have done since last October, they 
come to the church and lay on its altar the 
sum total of thirty-three thousand dollars. 
This has been gathered by Universaiist women 
in various ways ; through fairs, through fes- 
tivals, by self-denying efforts, in small sums and 
in large sums ; and it has been given cheer- 
fully. In some instances, the sums first given 
have been doubled, and the hearts and spirits 
of Universaiist women have turned again to 
their faith with a new baptism of consecra- 
tion, such as they had when they first be- 
lieved. 

I .thank God for it, for I see in this record of 
the past year, a prophecy that my church, 
dear to me, to which I am pledged while I 
live, and to which I am pledged when I die, 
and afterwards, — for the truth of God here is 
the truth of God there, and the doctrine of 
God's fatherhood, the dotrine of the broth- 
erhood of the race, and the final holiness 
and happiness of mankind, are eternal truths, 
that can never become falsified while God 
lives, and so I am pledged to it for all eternity, 
— I see in this an indication that my church, 
this dear church, is yet to clothe itself with 
new power ; that the Universaiist head, — the 
logical power of the ministers, the executive 
ability that we find in our ministers, in our 
publishing houses, in our newspapers, in our 
pulpits, — is to be married to the warm, gene- 
rous, enthusiastic, loving, consecrated heart 
of woman ; and I hope and expect, and I shall 
labor for that end, that when we get through 
with the special work of this centenary year, 
as women, we shall all join hands, and com- 
mence a new organization, pledged to carry 
forward the work of our church in some way 
in which we shall all agree. 

It is said that that is hardly necessary, that 
the men are now organized, and the women 
can come in with them. Yes, I know it ; but 
while I think men are as good workers as 
women, and while I am specially interested 
in drawing men and women together, and 
moulding and cementing the masculine and 
the feminine, though I almost regard that as 
my special work, I look into the family and I 
see that the work of the father is one work 
and the work of the mother another work, 



and that the interests of the family are most 
carefully guarded and most harmoniously 
developed when each works in his or her own 
sphere ; and so I think the women of our de- 
nomination must have some work which is 
specially their work, and which they can carry 
it on without in any way dividing themselves 
from the interests men have. It is all one work, 
only they labor in one department and we in 
another. It is all towards one end. It is two 
streams, running along side by side to the same 
great ocean. It is the two parallel lines of 
railroad that converge to the same terminus, 
and which will keep on with equal pace, one 
by the side of the other; and, since they are 
two, able to accomplish more, to carry on 
more, to do more. 

Some ten days ago, Dr. Harriot K. Hunt, 
of Boston, the pioneer woman physician, who 
is known to you all by name, sent for me to 
come and see her. She has been for ten 
weeks confined to her chamber by sickness. 
She is not now connected with our church, 
but a member of the Swedenborgian Church. 
The interest of this centenary year had even 
surged up into her sick chamber; it had lifted 
her off her feet, and she longed to talk about 
it. It brought back to her memories of John 
Murray, who baptized her, and who used to 
take her on his knee and invoke God's bless- 
ing on her, in his peculiarly fervent and 
enthusiastic way. " Before God," said she, 
"that inspiration and that blessing have 
followed me even until to-day." Taking up a 
little Bible, she said, '-This Bible, which he 
gave me, and in which he wrote my name, I 
read constantly. I shall never part with it 
while I live, and I shall bequeath it to my 
nephew, who will cherish it as a sacred heir- 
loom, and will derive inspiration and comfort 
from it, as I have done, because of its history 
and its associations." Said she, " Say to the 
Universalists, that John Murray was as 
humane a man, as honorable, as enthusiastic, 
as religious, as manly, as social, as much bap- 
tized with the spirit of God, as even John 
Wesley was. They have reason to be proud 
of the founder of American Universalism." 
She besought me to bring that Bible here, to 
have the clergymen who conducted the ser- 
vice read from it, and I should have done 
so, had I not been so much engaged that I 
had no time to go for it. So, to make some 
atonement, I have given you this little in- 
cident. 

If the blessing of this one man, if the inspi- 



56 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



ration that came from the benediction of the 
founder of our faith, who has gone into the 
skies, have followed this woman have shaped 
her life and linger about her to-day, so that 
as she sits in her room, the dead come back 
to her, in spirit — and though she does not 
claim to see them with eyes of flesh, she 
believes they are about her, and she only 
needs to drop the mortal to stand with them 
face to face — if this is the case with her, how 
should this faith itself inspire us women, one 
and all? For to women, especially, do I desire 
to talk to-night. I long for the women of our 
church to come up to their birthright, to take 
their places. I do rot mean by this that I 
have any thought that they shall oust men 
from any place they occupy, that they shall 
crowd themselves in officiously where men de- 
sire to stand ; I only mean by this, that when- 
ever they find a chance to help the cause of 
Universalism or advance this glorious faith, I 
long to have them do it. 

If we women of the Universalist church were 
all consecrated, were all of one mind, and 
had the same zeal and the same enthusiasm 
that we have sometimes as individuals, we 
should be able to lift this church up into the 
very first Christian power. It is because we 
lack faith in ourselves, it is because we do not 
fully take in all that our faith is, that we are 
weak. My friends, I do not know but I have 
said this to you before, but 1 must continue to 
say it. This faith of Universalism, during the 
twenty-five years that I have believed it, has 
grown upon me, until to-day it is the one cen- 
tral thing with me. I do not now, and I can 
not hereafter, engage in anything that is not, 
as I see it, the outcome of this faith. Univer- 
salism is to me synonymous with Christianity. 
I do not mean that we have the whole, com- 
plete, but I think that we are the nearest in our 
faith, theoretically, to the doctrine that Jesus 
Christ taught, of any church on earth* If 
this be boasting, then I boast, and I am glad 
to do so. Through the doctrines of Univer- 
salism, through its simple faith, I expect the 
world to be conquered. 

Through the doctrines of Universalism, I 
expect sin to be overcome. Through the 
doctrines of Universalism, I expect this na- 
tion to become what God intended it to be — 
the beacon light of the world ; upheld, mov- 
ing forward, exalted, with the grandest gov- 
ernment, with tlie noblest people, so that all 
nations may not only flock unto it, but pattern 
after it. I have no hope for the race only as 



it is the outcome of my faith. Wellington is 
said to have rested on a certain hollow 
square, by which he won the great battle of 
Waterloo, after defeat was imminent; and so I 
rest myself upon the doctrine of Universalism, 
which with me is synonymous with Chris- 
tianity; and through it I expect the world to 
be conquered. Do you say that I am using 
small weapons for great purposes ; that these 
doctrines are but the pebbles of the brook, 
which David will take to kill the Goliath of 
wickedness and sin. Look at them! See 
what they are ! Look at the doctrine of God's 
fatherhood ! All denominations believe it, I 
am told, constantly. Yes ; but nevertheless, 
they do not believe it as we do; for the 
doctrine of God's fatherhood means what 
Christ taught us in that beautifui parable in 
15th of Luke : " What man of you, having a 
hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth 
not leave the ninety and nine in the wilder- 
ness and go after that which is lost, until 
he find it? " Mark the words — " until he find 
it." Not search until he concludes it is 
hopelessly lost, or until he is wearied and 
abandons the search ; He said no such thing 
as that ; but search " until he find it." Up amid 
craggy mountains; down into deep, dark 
ravines ; in the teeth of the tornado, — 
search "until he find it," sometime, some- 
where. Then what? "And when he hath 
found it, he layeth it on his shoulders 
rejoicing." Mark the language again, — it is 
not mine, but Christ's, — "rejoicing more 
over it than over the ninety and nine that 
w T ent not astray." And so, friends, if we hug 
ourselves in Pharisaical self-complacency, and 
imagine ourselves higher in the regard of God 
than the poor drunken brother in the gutter, 
than the poor fallen sister, from whom we 
gather our skirts as we pass, lest contact be 
pollution, Christ has taught us differently, 
for he has taught us that God, who has all 
that there is of love in his nature, — the love 
of father, mother, brother, sister, — a love 
that is infinite, eternal, overwhelming and 
omnipotent, — Christ has taught us that God 
our Father will pass us by, who need no sal- 
vation, and hunt for the poor brother or the 
lost sister until he find them, and then rejoice 
more over them than over us, who need no 
salvation. 

So, I say we mean more by the doctrine of 
God's fatherhood than clo the other denomina- 
tions. But let me tell you that this doctrine 
ean be believed by the world. The doctrine 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



57 



of God's fatherhood can penetrate down into 
the heart, when oppressed by sin, anxious, 
despairing about the future, going along 
through the world in the great trouble that 
comes to every one. lonely, beset within and 
without. We cannot make our passage 
through life, carrying this great seed truth of 
God's fatherhood in our hearts and talking it 
to others, without producing a good effect. 

I tell you, the doctrine of God's love, we 
have not tried it. We do not dare to take 
hold of it iu its power and seek to win the 
world with it. There is still great practical 
disbelief iu Christianity, even among those 
who have named its name. I go to Music 
Hall, and hear an eloquent clergyman talk in 
rapt language concerning the doctrine of 
Christ. I hear him boast of its omnipotence, 
its wonderful power, its adaptation to every 
condition of life and every circumstance to 
which mortal flesh is heir. I am so uplifted 
by the sermon, my soul becomes so glowing, 
so all on tire, that the next day I seek him in 
his study, I say to him, " Thank God that you 
believe absolutely in the omnipotence of Chtis- 
tianity. I begin to hope that w T e may have 
you, here in this city of Boston, as a teacher, 
that there will be a large following, and that 
eventually, we shall dry up these streams of 
drunkenness, we shall kill out this social evil, 
we shall lift up these poor sisters, against 
whom good women, with their white hands, 
bar the doors of society, and say ' they are 
lost,' — as if anybody could be lost, when God 
lives and Christ lives," — and he coolly folds 
his arms and says, " Oh, my dear madam, 
don't believe you can ever extirpate drunken- 
ness or the social evil. Drunkenness has ex- 
isted for six thousand years ; the social evil is 
part and parcel of human nature ; you can 
never get rid of it. All that is Utopian." 

I take up a newspaper, and I read an edi- 
torial that has certain words that burn and 
glow about the victories for Christ that are 
to be achieved. I immediately go to that edi- 
tor's study. I find him, I shake hands with 
him, aud I say, "Thank God for that editorial ! 
It has lifted a great weight off my heart. I 
am filled again with new hope, for with you I 
believe that Christianity is equal to the abso- 
lute conquest of the world and its restoration 
to God " And he says to me, " Oh, my clear 
madam, you area fanatic; you are a vision- 
ary. Your enthusiasm runs riot; it never can 
be." I don't believe it! If I understand 
Christianity, then I say Christianity is to con- 



quer this world; to kill out its sin; to win it 
to God ; to swing it forward to that blessed 
time that prophets have foretold and poets 
have sung, which we call "the golden age," 
" the good time coining," " the millennium;" 
and if you prove to me that I am a fanatic, a 
visionary, an enthusiast on this point, then 
you prove to me that Christ has lived and 
died in vain, and that Christianity is to be 
always a failure. And that I will not believe, 
for Christianity is of God, an outcome of his 
nature, and He is immutable and omnipotent. 

Aud so I appeal to the women of my church 
who believe this glorious faith, to whom it is 
dear, who have taken it to their hearts, and 
who have carried it with them in all the sor- 
rows of life. And the experience of women is 
deeper and more peculiar than that of men, 
for they go down into the valley of the shadow 
of death, aud win the child of their love by 
struggliug for it with death itself, and then 
this dearly-bought child is part and parcel of 
their own nature ; their natures mould and 
guide it. It may be blind, so that only the 
chrism of immortality can open its eyes; it 
may be crippled beyond all the power of sur- 
gery to give it feet; it may be imbecile, so 
that only God can waken the poor, bewildered 
mind to life when he brings it into the sun- 
light of heaven, but it is the mother's child 
still, and dear to the mother's heart, who finds 
it easier to make sacrifices for the unfortunate 
child than for the child who is richly endowed 
and needs nothing. 

And then, when death comes, and the little 
one is laid away, to be seen no more forever, 
when the strong arm on which the wife has 
leaned fails, with the cares and burdens of 
maternity, she takes on the duties of the 
father, and endeavors to win bread for the 
children he has left behind him, then she 
goes to God with a deeper prayer, and God 
often answers her with a larger, fuller answer. 

Women have a need of religion, I have 
sometimes thought, beyond what men have. 
I think Christianity signifies more to women 
than to men, and especially to the women of 
my church, who have this large interpretation 
of Christianity given them. I hope, when this 
centenary work is over, we shall all join hands 
again, as we have joined hands this last year, 
in a covenant that only death shall annul; 
that we shall take up some grand work of the 
future, and continue to labor and do for it as 
long as we live. 

My friends, we can help make Universalism 



58 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENAKY, 



more of a power than the world dreams of. 
Do you tell me that it is unpopular, —that the 
world pours shame upon it ? What if it does ? 
Does that signify anything? So much the 
more let us cling to our faith, bind it upon our 
brows, carry it in our souls, and let the whole 
world see we are not ashamed of this blessed 
gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I thank God for this centenary year. I 
thank God for what the women of my church 
are doing. I have seen for a long time that 
the hour has struck when women are to wake 
to a new sense of power, when they are to be 
more in the future of the country than they 
have been, and this movement of the last year 
gives an additional, an intensified meaning to 
what I have read for a long while in the signs 
of the times. And so, my friends, I hope we 
shall not get over the enthusiasm and inspira- 
tion of this centenary year. I hope we shall 
carry them away with us. We have begun a 
work for the next century. We are done with 
the last hundred years, — we are now to work 
for the next century. Christianity has lain in 
the heart of humanity like a great seed, 
germinating and fructifying. It is to come, 
in the future, to beautiful blossom and fruit- 
age. Here and there, in the past, there has 
sprung up a little sprig, a little blossom, to 
show how lovely it is ; but it is for us to see 
its ultimate, complete fruition. There is 
something to work for in the future that we 
have not had in the past. Let us carry this 
work forward. 

Mrs. Liverraore concluded with a feeling 
and eloquent tribute to the earnest, self-sacri- 



ficing, and devoted labors of the President of 
the Association, Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, of 
New York, and proposed that five hundred 
dolJars be raised for her, as a testimony of 
appreciation of her labors, and sympathy for 
the great trials and bereavements through 
which she has passed. 

This appeal met with a prompt response 
from the audience, and in a very few moments 
the money was raised. While the contribution 
was being taken up, Rev. D. C. Tomlinsox, of 
New York, bore cordial testimony to the 
labors of Mrs. Soule, with which he had been 
personally familiar. 

When the result was made known, Mrs. 
Soule, though almost overcome with emotion, 
expressed her thanks in a few words. She 
said : — 

I do not know what to say to you, and if I 
should attempt to say what is in my heart, I 
should break down entirely. I have only to 
say, that I never had so much money in my 
pocket in all my life as I shall have when I get 
the $500, and having gone through an expe- 
rience which I trust very few of you will ever 
go through, having been obliged usually to 
fast a meal when I gave a meal, I shall know 
how to appreciate your generosity. I did not 
expect such a conclusion to the meetiug. I 
expected, when Mrs. Livermore got through, 
to call upon some other women and some of 
our brothers here; but you have used up all 
the time in helping me. I can only say, may 
God bless you for it ! 

The Doxology was then sung, and the 
audience dismissed with the benediction. 



MASS MEETING- 

THURSDAY, A. M. 

In consequence of the press of business be- Church, and the tent was occupied by a mass 
fore the delegates, it was found necessary meeting, over which Hon. Israel Washburn, of 
to hold an extra session at the Universalist Maine, presided. 

Remarks of Hon. Israel Washburn, Jr. 



Mr. Washburn, on taking the chair said : 

Assembled to celebrate the Centenary of the 
organization of Universalism as a positive form 
of Christianity, one of the first things we shall 
naturally consider, is, its true position or place 
in the Christian Church. 

Determining this, we shall perceive the na- 
ture of its present work, and the means by 
which that work may be best performed. 

Strictly speaking, the Universalist is not a 
Protestant Church. It is not an offshoot from 
another Church, but is rather an independent, 
original, subtantive Church, grounded in an 
idea that is peculiarly and distinctly its own. 
In this fact reposes in part my confidence in 
its strength, growth and permanence. For I 
know that seedlings are more vigorous than 
cuttings. No doubt churches, like plants, may 
be improved by cultivation, but the more per- 
fect and healthy the original stock, and the 
more natural to the soil, so to speak, the great- 
er are their possibilities of improvement. 

In religion there is but one truth and one 
error ; all other truths and errors are but 
parts and modifications of these. In the Chris- 
tian Church there are two fundamental ideas — 
only two : there is room for but two. God's 
love unlimited, is one ; Gods love limited, is the 
other. And there are essentially but two 
churches, representing or expressing respec- 
tively these ideas. They are as distinct, as two 
nations can be. As the nation may have pro- 
vinces, States, or other subdivisions, each with 
its own local laws and peculiar forms, so may 
the Church have its sects and denomina- 
tions — but the nation is really one and the 
Church is one. 

In the early centuries of Christian history, 
while the world was yet groping in the thick 
darkness of paganism and Judaism, men saw 
God indistinctly, for they were surrounded by 
the mists and smoke of human ignorance and 



passion, and they caught but faint and distort- 
ed glimpses of the Sun of Light and Life. 
They saw only a God of limitations ; they 
could fully apprehend no other. But there 
was some light in the world, and in it the 
Catholic Church was founded, and while this 
Church had gleams and visions of God, it saw 
but an imperfect deity after all, one in whom 
appeared more of the human than of the di- 
vine. He was a sovereign not a father. His 
government was patterned after those of men. 
He was a God of fear and gloom, of partiality 
and revenge; and yet so far as was consistent 
with these characteristics, he was, also, a God 
of love. A higher conception had been at- 
tained than Paganism or Judaism ever under- 
stood, and this leaven of truth and love, poor 
and partial as it was, was nevertheless a great 
thing. From its working in the Church came 
the Reformation and the protestantism of 
the modern orthodox schools, and, with these, 
an open Bible and free discussion. 

It, however, remains true that the English 
Church, the Scotch, the dissenters' churches of 
England, the various Evangelical churches so- 
called, on the continent and in America, have 
descended from the Catholic Church, and are 
to this day, in exact truth, branches of it, agree- 
ing with it in doctrine in all things essential 
and vital, and differing and protesting only on 
secondary questions ; protesting not against its 
statements of doctrine, but against its supersti- 
tions, abuses, and methods. They are all, one 
as much as another, based on a God of love lim- 
ited — a God, who, as the Rev. Dr. Thompson of 
New York argues, is the father of a part only 
of the human family. 

Now, here is the final and relentless defini- 
tion ; and if the Universalist Church, after an 
existence of a century, shall not recognize this 
fact, or shall fail to perceive that it determines 
its policy and points out its work, there would 



60 



UNIYERSALIST CENTENARY, 



seem to be no occasion for its continued exis- 
tence as a separate body of Christians. Tried 
by this definition the Catholic and Protestant 
churches, are substantially the same. They 
all agree that God's saving love is limited to a 
part of the race, and that he is, in a religious 
sense, the father of but part. 

The Catholic Church was perhaps the best 
the world was ready for during the ages in 
which it most flourished, and the world owes it, 
at least, this debt, that by such truth as it pos- 
sessed and taught, men were educated, enlight- 
ened and advanced until they could see a God of 
love unlimited, the Universal Father. Such is 
the vitality and fructifying power of truth, 
that no germ of it, however feeble, ever dies — 
once planted, it expands and grows forever. 

"One accent of the Holy Ghost 
The heedless world has never lost." 

When these views of God's nature, and re- 
lationship to all men, came to be embraced, 
and what they implied and required, to be con- 
sidered, it was manifest that there was no place 
for them in any of the sections of the Catholic 
Church, and a church more Catholic still was 
needed for their embodiment and expression. 
Tnis church would not merely dissent from or 
protest against the errors and absurdities of a 
church which in essential matters of doctrine 
was sound, but it would upheave and displace 
a, church that upon the fundamental ideas of 
Christianity was unsound. It would say in ef- 
fect to the latter, " There is room for but one 
of us. Your foundation is the true one or 
mine is. This is a question upon which, from 
its nature, there can be no compromise* This 
church is more than Catholic as that term has 
come to be understood, it is universal in its 
scope and ultimate membership — it will em- 
brace the world. So its members are called 
Universalists. It is not only broader, but, in 
its constituent principles, it is older than yours, 
and will survive it. If there is to be any pro- 
tecting, it must be on your part, whose organisa- 
tion is but a temporary instrumentality and not 
a final church." 

From this view of the posiiion of Universa- 
lism in the Christian world, the proper work 
and special duty of those who accept it, are ap- 
parent. They must labor earnestly and faith- 
fully to build it up as the best agency for the 
inculcation of truth and the elevation and hap- 
piness of mankind. If its great doctrine be 
true, it is the basis of all spiritual and moral 



growth, and it behooves those who receive it 
to become its advocates and champions. No 
one would think it wise to give the execution 
of the Constitution of the United States into 
the hands of the House of Hapsburg or of the 
House of Bourbon. He would rather confide 
that authority and trust to an intelligent and 
and patriotic people who believe in the good 
sense and wisdom of its provisions, and are 
thoroughly attached to its principles. So, no 
wise man would suggest that the custody and 
practical development of the sublimest truth 
of heaven and earth — that of God's impartial 
and omnipotent love — should be committed to 
those who deny that truth or are indifferent in 
regard to it. Therefore a necessity and a dutv 
are laid upon Universalists to take this great 
cause into their own keeping, and with all 
assiduity and earnestness, in faith and affec- 
tion, by precept and example, commend it to 
the judgments and hearts of m^n, and labor 
for the upbuilding of the Church which shall 
best represent it, until that Church shall be- 
come the church of Christendom and Cluisten- 
dom shall be co-extensive with the earth. 

And while, on this occasion, we reilect on 
the grandeur of the cause itself, and conrdder 
its everlasting foundations, we should not for- 
get the extraordinary, I may say, perhaps, 
Providential, circumstances of its introduction 
and organization as an independent, outward 
form of Christianity. Not until seventeen hun- 
dred years of preparation had done thtir work, 
not until Luther and the Reformers had broken 
away from the sophistries, superstitions and 
crimes of the Catholic Church, and the spirit of 
inquiry had been sent abroad on ample pinions, 
not until the God-given truths of the dignity of 
human nature and the inherent rights of man, 
had been proclaimed by Algernon Sidney, An- 
drew Marvel and John Milton to those who 
were, under God, to shape the destinies of a 
new world, not until the time had come for the 
occupation and settlement of a continent where 
these truths could have an open field and fair 
play, not until the school house had been 
erected for every child in New England, not 
until men, thus instructed and educated, be- 
gan to feel that the time was approaching for 
the establishment upon the earth of a " govern- 
ment of the people, by the people and for the 
people," not until the year — annus mirabilis — 
in which the first gun of the Revolution was 
fired — at Boston, iu the massacre of 1770 — 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



61 



did John Murray the apostle of Universalism 
as a distinctive church, make his appearance 
in America, marking not only by the doctrine 
which he taught, but, also, by the time of his 
advent, the hour which was to ring in the prac- 
tical recognition of the Democracy of religion 
as well as of politics. It was the faith of John 
Murray upon which alone could be maintained 
the declaration " that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights ; that among 
these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- 
ness;" which justified the assertion by Mad- 
ison, Ellsworth, and Hamilton, in their ad- 
dress advocating the adoption of the Articles 
of Confederation, " that it has always been the 
pride and boast of America that the rights for 
which she contended were the rights of human 
nature ;" upon which, as a corner-stone, the 
Constitution of the United States, designed to 
" promote the general welfare " and to " secure 
the blessings of liberty" to all the people, must 
rest. ; and which inspired the fathers to say and 
maintain that all true governments are founded 
" upon the consent of the governed." It is ob- 
vious that these fundamental principles of this 
government are identical with those of Univer- 
salism, and are radically inconsistent with 
those of the old Church. 

This new Church, as this government, is 
founded in the intuitions and affections of the 
people — " in the common sense of most." Its 
beginning was among the common people and 
it is still cherished and supported by them, al- 
though its doctrines are now accepted by those 
who largely and honorably represent the most 
cultivated and intelligent classes in modern so- 
ciety, its most earnest life is in the zeal and de- 
votion, in the courage and manhood of the class 
by whom its cradle was rocked. And so it 



happens (and there can be no better evidence 
of its genuineness or augury pf its ultimate suc- 
cess) teat it flourishes in an atmosphere when 
affords no refreshment lor insincerity, for half- 
beliefs, or for ind.fierence, and m which tiur>key- 
ism of every fo; m and type finds most painful 
re?piration. Men abide in it and labor for it, 
because as sincere, brave, honest men, believ- 
ing it, tbey must". It is theirs to serve and wait, 
and God wi;l help them in proportion to their 
fidelity. Wi h Henry before Agincourt, they 
will mourn no man's ab-ence who has not a 
stomach for the fight. If their Church differed 
from others on secondary questions only ; ques- 
tions like transubstantiation, .the sacraments, 
the Immaculate Conception, the Trinity, the 
Unify of the Godhead, forms, rites, &c, there 
would be no occasion for its existence. But 
when it differs on questions touching the na- 
ture and character of God and his relationship 
to, and purpose with, man, and the essential 
character of his moral government, as whether 
founded on love or fear, a separate organiza- 
tion is a necessity. That organization has 
been accomplished, and there is no choice but 
to maintain it. -Its work for a century is be- 
fore the world, and on the whole it has been 
well done. As it stands at the gateway of 
another century, a different and perhaps more 
difficult labor confronts it. Let it enter there- 
upon humbly, yet trustfully and full of faith, 
and, with the blessing of God, the second cen- 
tury of its existence will show a world better, 
brighter, wiser and more Christian than is the 
world which now witnesses the completion of 
its first. 

The band then played "Hail Columbia, 7 ' 
after which Mrs. Mary A. Livermore was 
introduced, who received a most cordial 
greeting. 



Address of Mrs. Livermore. 



A year ago, when the General Convention 
held its session in Buffalo, and it was decided 
to make this Centennial Year glorious and 
immortal, the women caught immediately the 
inspiration of the time, and came together, — a 
small company, — and said, " We will raise of 
this $200,000 Murray Fund, $25,000." None 
of us believed it could be done; I doubt if 
those even who pledged it believed it possible ; 
but they took for their motto that of Daniel 
O'Connell, "Demand the uttermost, and you 
Will get something." And so they asked the 



uttermost, not by any means expecting to 
attain to it. After the lapse of a year, we 
come together here, women in great compa- 
nies, as well as men, and we are able to report 
to-day the sum of $33,000 given by the women 
of the Universalist Church. (Hearty applause.) 
Their work is not yet over; they will hold on 
until the first of January next year, working 
and receiving contributions; and they now say 
$4-0,000 shall be the sum which Universalist 
women shall lay upon the altar of the church. 
This does not by any means include every 



62 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



dollar which women have given, for large 
.suras of money have been given into the 
Murray Fund that are not credited to this 
woman's fund. One woman gave $500 to the 
Murray Fund, and $1.00 to the woman's fund, 
and the thing stands thus on the record 
books. And then, we cannot take any statis- 
tical account of the noble, kindly, affectionate 
influence which women have exerted upon 
the hearts of men, their own souls kindled, 
so that they have unloosed plethoric pockets, 
that otherwise would not have been opened. 
I do not speak of this boastingly ; I speak of 
it gratefully ; for, with a church like ours, and 
a faith like ours, ultimate success, complete 
victory, cannot be possible until we marry the 
head and the heart of the church in a union 
that shall never know divorce. You have, in 
the clear, cold intellectual ism of the men, the 
Universalist head; you have, in the warm, 
glowing heart of the women, the heart of 
Universalism. Thank God that the heart is 
kindled, that it is to-day alive; that, while it 
has been outwardly married to the head, it is 
to-day in living union ; and from this my hope 
grows great for the future, and my prophecy 
is larger than ever it was before. 

What the President of this meeting has so 
powerfully and so beautifully said, many of us 
have long felt, but have not had the language 
to express it. When John Murray went, more 
than a hundred years ago, to call on a woman 
who believed in Universalism for the purpose 
of converting her, he was himself converted, 
and converted so thoroughly, heart, soul and 
conscience, that he immediately put his her- 
culean shoulder to the work, and said, "By 
the blessing of God, I will swing back the 
church to Christianity," — for the church of 
the past had not been a Christian church, but 
pseudo-Christian. He commenced his work, — 
commenced it under the most discouraging 
circumstances. His wife gave him a good and 
generous backing. A woman of high temper, 
of invincible energy, of undaunted courage; 
a "strong-minded woman," if the term had 
been used in those days, who, when her hus- 
band engaged in loud and stormy debate with 
an opponent in the parlor, went to the head of 
the stairs and rebuked him, saying, " Mr. 
Murray, this house was built for the home of 
the family, and not for a debating school." 
" Yes, my dear," said he, and closed the door, 
so that she might not, with her family above, 
be disturbed with the din of conflict. A 
" strong-minded woman," who, when Father 
Ballou, who, having 



broader outlook than John Murray, preached 
in Boston a different form of Universalism 
from that which John Murray preached, rose 
in her place and said, — standing by the mem- 
ory of her husband, for which let all wives 
thank her; standing by the truth that her 
husband believed, — " This is not the Uni- 
versalism that Mr. Murray preached." A 
" strong-minded woman," who, during the 
last six years of his sick, broken and worn-out 
life, nursed him as tenderly and much more 
wisely than a weak-minded woman might have 
done. (Applause.) It was fitting, then, that 
Universalist women should come up to the 
work. They have done a vast deal of work 
during the last few years. They have worked 
in a small way everywhere, and if the aggre- 
gate of what they have done could be counted, 
it would make no mean show ; but not until 
this centenary year had struck, did the 
women of our church come up to their place 
and take their birthright. I ask you, now, 
Universalist women, after having had your 
hearts kindled during this last year, after 
having looked this faith of yours in the face 
and appreciated it as never before* and pledged 
yourselves to it as never before, are you 
going to lay off the harness at the end of the 
year, and drift back into the little driblets of 
work that contented you before ? God forbid 2 
Let us, when this Centenary Association is 
dissolved, reorganize into an Universalist 
Association, to do the work that woman can 
do in the future. We have a place in the 
Christian church, and that place is by the - 
side of our brothers everywhere, — wisely, 
womanly, delicately, judiciously; not in a 
spirit of contention, not in a spirit of aggres- 
sion, not in any way to make any dis- 
harmony, but so as to harmonize every- 
thing, and make the work of our Lord go on 
more gloriously. For realize, my dear sisters, 
that this forty thousand dollars of yours is 
your contribution to the work of the next 
century. The last hundred years are behind 
us, with their sufferings, with their sacrifices. 
We are now to gird up our loins and reach 
forward to the work of the next hundred 
years, which is to be infinitely grander 
and more glorious than that which has 
closed. 

Mr. Washburn has told you how the Lord 
God had been making ready for the introduc- 
tion of Universalism, — how he had prepared 
the way. So those of us who are looking and 
listening with instructed eyes and ears, see 
how the Lord God is to-day abroad in the 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



63 



earth, getting ready for a still greater consum- 
mation. To-day, we have the space over our 
heads net-worked with telegraphic wires, by 
which we can read thoughts quick as light- 
ning, backwards and forwards over the coun- 
try; we have wedded the Atlantic and the 
Pacific with a ring of iron ; we have brought 
the Occident and the Orient face to 
face; we have great steamships vibrating 
backwards and forwards between the two 
continents, every seven, eight or ten days ; 
and then we have lying in the bosom of the 
deep this magnetic nerve, that trembles and 
throbs with the impatient news of the world, 
which cannot wait for the slow transmission 
of steam. To-day, a battle occurs in Europe ; 
it closes on Saturday, and this great magnetic 
nerve, lying under the water, trembles and 
throbs, and we take up the Monday morning 
papers, and lo ! there are the details of the 
battles. Lo ! there we hear who made the 
charges and who won the victory. Lo ! there 
we learn, before even the French people 
know, that their empire has passed away. 
Do you believe that God has led us on to 
these splendid material achievements that we 
may only continue to chronicle great battles, 
the games of kiugs, the depositions of pseudo- 
emperors? Oh, no ! Do you believe that we 
are only to be brought thus near together, the 
old world and the new, so that, sitting in our 
houses, with the aid of this magnetic nerve, 
we can almost hear the shock of armies, the 
huzzas of the victors, the dying groans of the 
defeated, the sobs of the poor widows, and 
the wailings of the poor fatherless children, 
who always go down in this hellish struggle 
that men call war, and which the Chicago 
Advance has so far dared to insult the world 
as to call " one of the ieadiug activities of 
the age"? (Let it it be remembered that 
that is not a Universalist paper; I am glad 
of it.) 

No. I tell you that we are to-day pressing 
on with hot, swift feet to the great, grand 
time which prophets have foretold, and poets 
have sung; to which the hearts and minds of 
the whole world reach forward, when the 
glory of God shall fill the earth, and we shall 
have but one worship, that of the Universal 
Father, who embraces in His nature every 
form of love known to us, loving creatures 
of His ; when we shall recognize the great tie 
of brotherhood the world over; when we 
shall be done with wars and battles ; when we 
shall come together as one people, with the 
Lord God our Father and our Leader. If you 



show me that I am wrong in believing this, 
and believing it so fully, so triumphantly, that 
no discouragement discourages me, that no 
defeat defeats me, that no hostility touches 
me, that no sort of antagonism in any way 
holds me back, — if you prove to me I am only 
an enthusiast and fanatic, and that this great, 
grand dream of mine which I carry in my 
heart like a heavenly seed is only a dream, 
nev^r to be realized, you prove to me that 
Christ lived and died in vain, and that God is 
not true to iiis promise; and that I will not 
believe, though all the created universe assert 
it with one mighty voice. (Loud applause.) 

My friends, I am not to talk here long; it is 
almost an impertinence that I talk here at all, 
for here you have the platform crowded with 
ministers ; you have the Doctors of Divinity; 
you have the fathers of the church. I am 
only speaking a few brief words for this 
Woman's Missionary Association, and I will 
close what I have to say by making one earn- 
est, impassioned appeal, — I would that God 
would give me the voice, the zeal and the 
spirit that the occasion demands, — to the 
women of our church. You have come to the 
front — never go to the rear! You have to- 
day re-baptized yourselves with a new conse- 
cration. When Gen. Sherman asked for a 
hundred and fifty men to lead a forlorn hope, 
the men about him were so consecrated into 
the great, glowing idea of liberty, that, al- 
though they knew the path over which they 
were to march led straight to death, fifteen 
hundred of them, a great surging crowd of 
humanity and patriotism, pressed around the 
General's feet. So while you, the women of 
the church, were asked to raise $25,000, God 
has given you such consecration that you have 
nearly doubled that sum. 

My dear sisters, let us, in spirit, join hands. 
This great faith of ours, this grand doctrine of 
Christianity, — by it, the world is to be won ; 
by it, the world is to be conquered; by it, we 
are to beat back all the incoming tide of sin ; 
by it, we are to swing this universe onward 
and upward to God. Nothing else will do it. 
I have not a hope for the future of the race ; 
I have not a hope for my nation, dear to me as 
if I were a man, dear to me as if I had shoul- 
dered a musket and fought under its flag, and 
for it I could willingly die, though, when the 
war was first talked about, I thought I hardly 
knew anything about it, or cared anything 
about it ; I have no hope, I say, for my coun- 
try or for the human family, that is not based 
upon and bound up with the success of Chris- 



64 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



tianity; and Universalism, let me say it sin- 
cerely, is Christianity. We have Christian- 
ity in it. We have many improvements to 
make, we have much to do; but the great seed 
truths of Christianity are incorporated in our 
faith. 

So I want all the women to work together 
for our church. Be not content with doing a 
little; let us do all we can; and when this 
centenary year closes, let us all reorganize, 
fall into line, and be ready, when the leaders 
tell us what to do. to obey. Let us learn one 
thing, which Universalist men and women 
have been slow to learn. Let us learn to 
obey orders, to stand in our rank, in every 
place, and do what we are told to do, whether 



we like to do it or not, and not hang back, and 
haggle, and palter. 

This, then, ladies and gentlemen, is my 
parting word. We part here, but we women 
are coming together again, the heart of the 
denomination, better instructed, larger, 
warmer, grander, more glowing, and then we 
are to stand by the side of our brothers, in- 
structed by them, aided by them; for I do 
not believe in any divorce of the men and the 
women, all the way through, only we will 
take our stand by the side of them. We are 
going to show them, in coming years, what 
we and our children can do for this faith 
which is the hope of the world. (Loud ap- 
plause.) 



Address of Rev. J. Smith Dodge, of Conn. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : Perhaps you do not 
know that while we celebrate here the one 
hundredth anniversary of the founding of the 
Universalist denomination, we have also an- 
other celebration, for it is almost exactly half 
that time since the first Universalist Sunday 
school was established. In the report of the 
Committee on Sunday Schools, to which I 
theoretically respond, it is said that the first 
Universalist Sunday school was organized in 
1819, and that the second Universalist Sunday 
school in the land was organized in 1820, in 
Gloucester. So that, with the slightest devi- 
ation from exactness, we are here upon the 
ground to celebrate the jubilee of Universalist 
Sunday schools. You can, therefore, spare a 
little time from the recollections and sugges- 
tions of an entire century, to think of those 
things which half a century of Universalist 
Sunday-school existence suggests to our 
minds. What has been done in these fifty 
years? You will have an opportunity to read 
in the printed report, that there have been 
established, as nearly as can be known, five 
hundred Universalist Sunday schools, with an 
enrolment of scholars amounting, we are told, 
to forty thousand. Five hundred out-posts of 
Universalism scattered through all the laud ! 
Forty thousand germs of futui'3 lives, with all 
their activities and all their powers under dis- 
cipline at the feet of Universalist teachers ! I 
think it is not asking t .o much, when I ask 
you to turn away a little from all the other 
events that the hundred years suggest, and 



dwell upon this momentous question, this 
large responsibility, for 

"Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined." 

And yet I am afraid the committee have 
selected just about the worst man in the 
crowd to make suggestions concerning Sun- 
day schools, or to draw the moral. I have 
not had much familiarity with their details ; 
I have not devoted my attention especially, 
far from exclusively, to any consideration of 
the topic. Fortunately, however, the com- 
mittee have drawn up a report, which you 
will all have an opportunity to read in the 
denominational papers, in which the questions 
of detail are largely and admirably consid- 
ered; and I make no further apology, there- 
fore, for passing on, and calling your atten- 
tion, no longer to details, but to some of the 
general principles, or to the one great gen- 
eral principle, in fact, which it seems to me 
should control and systematize and give char- 
acter to whatever detailed operations, and 
whatever elaborate methods our wisdom and 
our experience may suggest. 

What, then, is the great principle which lies 
at the bottom of the possibility of usefulness 
in Sunday-school instruction? A great prin- 
ciple, which is familiar to all men, which crops 
out here and there, and which controls by its 
operation very much all the lives of men. 
Let me illustrate the principle. Doubtless 
many a young man, bred in Gloucester, leaves 
his native place and goes out into the world 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



65 



to seek his fortune. He may go to the prai- 
ries of the west; he may sail upon the eastern 
ocean, far away; he may settle in some gieat 
city ; this thing or that may seem to him best 
to serve the purposes of his life; but by- 
and-bye, when the busy years are passed, 
and the harvest is gathered in, when his chil- 
dren have grown up about him, and released 
him from the responsibility of their care and 
maintenance, there will come to him the feel- 
ing that now it is time to settle down for the 
declining years of life; that now he must 
bethink him where his bones shall be laid, and 
what sun shall shine, and what breezes blow 
upon the gray locks that are scattered thinly 
upon his head. Where will he turn? What 
place will he think of ? The prairies of the 
west are richer than the rocky fields of Cape 
Ann ; the ocean in its grandeur dashes on other 
shores more magnificently than I have seen it 
beating here ; and yet his thoughts will come 
back to the old homestead, and he will bring 
himself here to spend the lingering days of his 
end, and then be laid beside the graves of his 
fathers. Why will he do this? Why this 
constant phenomenon of the heart reaching 
back to its earliest recollections? Why this 
relation of the old men to the spots of their 
childhood? Because, wherever he may have 
first tasted life, the man finds that the scenes 
and events of his early days have left in mem- 
ory the teuderest recollections. Its scenes 
were brighter, its grassy fields more gceen 
and rich, the skies that covered the head of 
frolicking childhood shone with a radiance that 
no clays repeat. And so, when memory looks 
back, withdrawing from the din and stir of 
life, the old man thinks that in the world there 
can nowhere be a spot so fair and lovely as 
where his childhood steps wandered through 
the fields, and the first impressions of opening 
life were made upon him. No matter whether 
he find the dream realized, the memory clings 
there, and the desire for rest and peace, for 
the green earth and tranquil skies, brings back 
the recollection of those first impressions, 
stamped indelibly upon his heart. Therefore 
it is, because the first impressions made in the 
very opening days and years of our lives are 
so tenderly cherished, are so interwoven and 
knit together with all that seems to us fairest, 
most worthy of remembrance, and dearest in 
all our experience, — therefore it is, I say, 
that the Sunday school may hope to accom- 
plish in the hearts of children a work that 
shall govern all their days. 
The Catholic church, so wise in its day and 



generation, knows this fact fall well, and 
nobly exempliiies it. I have heard it said that 
it is a maxim of their priesthood, that if you 
will commit the instruction of children to their 
care, until they approach maturity, they have 
no fear, come what may, that these men and 
women will be lost to Holy Mother Church. 
Thank God 1 they are partially mistaken ; and 
yet, it is a subtle reading of the human heart, 
and a wise recognition of the springs of power 
that govern it, which is the animating princi- 
ple of this determination. The man, bred in a 
Catholic seminary, reared at the feet of 
priests, indoctrinated by a Catholic mother, 
learns just one thing, — that the representative 
of heavenly grace and earthly consolation any- 
where is the church. No matter about creeds, 
no matter about location, no matter whether 
it be in a grand cathedral or rude log hut in 
western wilds that its mysterious formalities 
are celebrated, the church, standing by its 
representative in every corner of the world, 
is the symbol of religious truth and divine 
help ; and by-and-bye, when he has gone away 
from his priest, deserted the confessional, be- 
gun to hold loose and infidel notions, and to 
scoff at things divine, this young man chooses 
to be married. What then? Unless he is 
constrained by some other will, he never 
thinks of any priest to marry him but a Catho- 
lic priest, with Catholic ceremonials and 
forms ; and the ceremony brings back for one 
solemn hour all the old impressions, and en- 
graves them again upon his heart. Then in- 
difference comes again, the years roll on, and 
he falls into his sluggish habits, until by-and- 
bye he stands by the side of the coffin of his 
little child, and strews flowers upon its silent 
and cold remains, and then his heart cries out 
for the help that he feels is not in man, and he 
goes back to the old impressions of his child- 
hood. And so, whenever a woe crosses his 
path, whenever an anguish wrings his heart, 
whenever darkness and mystery assail him, 
he turns to that church which he was taught 
in youth to look up to and reverence as the 
surest source of help and comfort. 

I have dwelt upon this because I want to 
say, that while the Universalist cannot teach 
his child to look upon the Universalist church 
as the Catholic teaches his child to look upon 
the Catholic church, — while the Universalist 
cannot say to his child, "Here is the com- 
plete and perfect truth ; no attack can make 
any impression upon it; no church can enlarge 
and increase but itself, perfect, and complete, 
and divine; you have no need to question, 



66 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



you have no need to reason or to be con- 
vinced, but only to give assent;" while the 
Universalist cannot say this, he can, I think. 
and that very largely through the instrumen- 
tality of the Sunday school, still make upon 
the heart of his child this identical impression 
which, by-aud-bye, when the careless years 
have seemed to win him from those early pre- 
cepts that his mother and his Sabbath school 
impressed upon him, by-and-bye, when neces- 
sity and trial and suffering come, he shall find 
deeper than all other impressions, constrain- 
ing his whole life; those earliest convictions, 
those earliest hopes and loves of his childish 
heart. 

Let me suggest to you how it shall be done. 
As I said, I am not great on details, and al- 
ways try, in speaking, to get behind them. — 
for there is ever something behind all the de- 
tails, liut it seems to me that I can point out 
at least two roads, if not measure every rod 
and step upon them both, by which this end 
is to be reached ; two great things to be borne 
in mind in the instruction of our Sunday- 
school children. In the first place, I believe 
the Sunday school should implant in the mem- 
ory of the child, when it is, you know, " wax 
to receive, and marble to retain," abundant 
portions of God's sacred word. I do not find, 
somehow, that the younger Universalists 
quote Scripture as readily as the old men do. 
"When I am in a conference meeting, and a 
gray-haired man gets up to pray or to speak, 
every third sentence is a quotation from the 
Bible. When a young man gets up to speak, 
I may recognize (thank God! I believe I do) 
as much of the spirit of the word, but the 
letter of it either is not in his memory, or he 
does not take it so freely on the tongue. I do 
not believe that this means that Universalists 
read their Bibles any less in these clays than 
they did in days of old ; I do believe it means, 
that from the circumstances of the times, the 
conditions in which we live, the necessity of 
impressing the letter of Scripture upon our 
memories is not so keenly felt. God forbid 
that we should ever feel it unnecessary to 
make this impression! 

Ah! your experience of human life has been 
indeed monotonous and tranquil if you have 
never known that hour of doubt and trial 
when you could seem to find no stauding- 
place for your feet, no shelter for your head, 
and have at last caught hold of some re- 
membered words of Scripture, and iouud 
them in the moment of your anguish a stay 
and a help. (Applause.) To remember some 



such word as this, "I am not alone, for the 
Father is with me ; " to remember that " He 
is good to all ; " to remember that " His mercy 
endureth forever;" to remember all those 
multitudinous short passages of Scripture that 
a child three years old can learn and remem- 
ber just about as quickly as the mother who is 
teaching them to him; to remember these 
sometimes, in an hour of crisis, is a strength 
that no human counsel can give, that no mere 
comprehension of general principles has power 
to give the human heart. Therefore I say, 
among those early and yet rapidly accumulat- 
ing impressions that make the formation of 
human consciousness in coming years, let there 
be mingled abundantly the texts of God's holy 
word. Perhaps the child does not understand 
them now. Certaiply he will not fathom them 
as he learns. No matter for that. Do you 
care so much whether the sculptor who en- 
graves the motto over the entrance to your 
church, "God is Love," could preach an 
eloquent sermon upon it? You want it en- 
graven there, and by-and-bye, when the scaf- 
folding is removed, and all men look upon it, 
they shall gather little by little in their passing 
observation, some impress of a truth that is 
broader than all the universe, and fills crea- 
tion. So let these growing souls have im- 
pressed upon them, — I do not know by 
exactly what method, I do not purpose to say 
by exactly what text-books, but let these 
growing souls have written in the primary 
rock of their forming characters and minds, 
multitudes of the abundant truths scattered 
through God's word, that are easy of com- 
prehension, that the wayfaring man may read 
— yes, read them as he runs. 

One thing more. It is far from enough to 
satisfy the desire of any Universalist heart 
that the child should be merely grounded in 
the letter of God's word. If we were to stop 
with this, alas ! how much mischief might be 
taught the child ! How much we have seen of 
perverted Scriptural quotations! How we 
know that the last stronghold of an irrational 
and almost blasphemous theology, is a strained 
interpretation of three or four texts of God's 
holy word! God forbid, therefore, that we 
should merely w T rite isolated scraps of Scrip- 
lure upon the minds of our children ; and yet 
I am afraid, — and I have learned to be afraid 
by seeing the processes and the results of the 
Sunday school, — that it is not possible to take 
the children of our Suuday schools and imbue 
them with the full body of Universalist theol- 
ogy, in the time we can keep them there. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



67 



They cannot learn it all. I have had my Sun- 
day school repeat the Rhode Island catechism, 
word for word, from beginning to end, and 
the child who learned it best of all was so 
small that she had to stand up on the seat to 
be seen above the heads of the other scholars ; 
and, after all, she did not know what it meant. 
I want something put into her heart, in these 
formative moments of her life, that she can 
understand, and which she can never outgrow. 
Thank Godl we have discovered that all 
divine truth is embraced in three words, so 
plain and simple that your lisping babe knows 
.something of their meaning, so grand and 
sublime that choiring archangels have not 
fathomed their depths, nor reached their top- 
most heights — "God is love." Love at the 
helm of the universe, love above us, love 
through all our ways, love the granite rock on 
which we stand, and which never will sink 
from beneath our feet. Ah! your child knows 
what it is to be loved; knows what it is 
that her mother has for her more than all the 
world beside. Teach her that there is more 
of this in the heavens, in the earth, thr- ugh 
all the air, sounding in the surges of the 
ocean, and growing ia the upspringing grass 
blade, more of it flowing out of the heart of 
God, who made and governs all things, than 
all the mothers on earth have ever lavished ou 
all the danings of their hearts. 

Your child can understand something of 
this. How shall your child learn it? Let it 
be written, if you will, in illuminated texts, 
upon the walls of your Sunday school. Let it 
be the fi:st of all the memorial inscriptions 
that you carve upon this glowing heart,— 
" God is love." Let it be taught by the cheer- 
ful serenity of the Sunday-school discipline 
and conduct, that knows no sharp, ill-natured 
reuukes, that knows no frowning superin- 
tendents and no peevish teachers. Let it be 
infused through the atmosphere that waits 
weekly within the walls where these little 
ones have gathered. Have you never seen a 
home where peace reigns continually, — to 
enter within whose walls, and spend a day or 
a week, was like a new baptism of calm, 
tranquillity, and rest, after the strife and 
troubles of the world? a home out of which 
you went with reluctance, and whose recollec- 
tion in your heart was a green and fragrant 
spot forever more? Thank God, I have 
seen, thank God, I believe almost every one 
of you has seen such a home as this, some- 
where. Let the Sunday school of the Univer- 
salis c church be such a home to the children 



of Universalists. Five hundred focal points 
of peace and calmness, and everlasting assur- 
ance in the Divine goodness. Forty thousand 
little souls — (may their numbers double with 
every decade ! — 1 wish they might with every 
year) — forty thousand little souls, taking 
their primary impressions of existence, and 
having this as the groundwork and root of 
them all — that the life which Universaiism 
teaches, which it fosters, which it tends to 
develop in mankind, is a life of peace, and 
joy, and tranquillity, now and forevermore, 
because God is love. 

I do not, I repeat, presume to measure out 
details; but this, after all, covers the whole 
ground. The complaint is often made, " We 
cannot keep the children long enough in the 
Sunday school ;" that while they attend in large 
numbers, little children from four to twelve 
years old, perhaps, they then begin to drop off. 
I believe there is an inherent necessity that this 
should be largely so. I believe that those eight 
years, improved in the maimer I have indicated 
only in this general outline, will anchor and se- 
cure a Universalist, Christian, noble life, come 
what may in the future. Doubtless, when the 
eastern storms gather, and, pressing on the 
vast volume of the ocean, roll it toward Cape 
Ann, the water surges up in this bay as you 
and I, visitors for the first time, have never 
seen. Doubtless, it dashes in and breaks in 
a great surf upon the shore, and its waves rise 
up, while the sky is darkened with drifting 
clouds, the air is filled witffmist and foam, the 
waves clash upon this rocky headland, and 
you might stand within these canvas walls 
and not be able to see that any rocks were 
left. Cut by-and-bye the wind will spend its 
fury, the storm subside, the sky shine out in 
clearness and serenity, the ocean sink back to 
its bed, heaving a little with the remembrance 
of the storm just past, and there will stand 
those rocks, wet with spray, channelled by 
the receding currents, riven by the continual 
action of the elements, but grand, substantial, 
granite Cape Ann, as God made them at the 
first. Oh ! let us see to it, that, in the formative 
period of our children's hearts, they be. girt 
about with the granite assurance of God's 
eternal love, based on the underlying, eternal 
foundation of God's revealed word; and then, 
whatever storms shall come, whatever cloudy 
skies or sweeping ocean waves their future 
lives may show, though these memories of 
the past seem lost and forever obliterated, 
while the sky is dark and the storm continues 
to rage, yet when tranquillity shall come at 



68 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



last, and the old man, or man growing old, 
begins to throw off the burden of cure, and 
toil and trial, and bethink him that life is some- 
thing more than dollars, and activity may be 
expended in other ways than in the routine of 
business, then the waves will ebb back, and 
the granite of the assurance in God's almighty 
and saving grace will gird around his heart 
and protect it, until God translate him to his 
own presence. (Applause.; 

The President — I have now a most 
grateful service to perform, one which gives 
me peculiar pleasure. I hold in my hand a 
communication so very kind and fraternal that 
it has done me good to read it, and I know it 
will do you good to hear it. 

lo Hon. Sidney Perham, President of the Cen- 
tenary Convention : 
Dear Sir: By direction of the National 
Council of Unitarian and other Christian 
Churches, we tender to you the expression of 
their sympathy in your great celebration. 
The imposing progress made by the Univer- 
salist communion in a century is such as to 



give courage to all Christian believers, and to 
strengthen their trust in Providence of that 
Father who has promised to give his little 
flock the victory. You have our prayers and 
our hopes thai, another centenary may see an 
advance even larger and more rapid in the 
simplicity, in the purity, and in the loving 
kindness of men's interpretation of the 
gospel. 

While we congratulate you on the strength 
and activity so evident in your own body, we 
have to thank you as well for the services 
which the theologians and the active philan- 
thropists of your communion have rendered 
to all Christendom. 
With great respect, we are, 

Your obedient servants, 

E. E. Hale, 
Chas. Lowe, 
Committee of the National Conference of TJnita* 
rian and other Christian Churches. 
These gentlemen are present, and I have the 
honor to introduce to you the Rev. E. E. Hale, 



Address of Rev, E. E. Hale. 



It is with the most profound pleasure, as it 
is with the sincerest humility, that I address 
a single word to this assembly. The occasion 
is on every account central and historic. The 
words "seventeen hundred and seventy" 
have been knit into the history of the liberal- 
ism of the world, and of that 1770, who shall 
say that the most important moment of all is 
not the moment and the act which we celebrate 
to-day. (Applause.) This great word "Ca- 
tholic," this great Greek word " Catholic," 
which has this year attempted to assert itself, 
and attempted all in vain to assert itself in 
the miserable failure at Rome, is it not find- 
ing its true interpretation in the magnetic 
words, "Universal," and " Universalist," 
which you are repeating from every lip to- 
day? (Applause.) Catholic! The Catholic 
Church! "I believe in the Holy Catholic 
Church " — that is the dying word of the 
agony of martyrs, and the " Holy Roman 
Catholic Church " has so far forgotten its duty 
and its destiny, that in one last and dying effort 
of sectarianism, it has excommunicated all 
the living forces of Christendom. (Applause.) 
In one sublime blasphemy, it has asserted the 
nothingness of the individual man, and the 



supremacy of the poor dotard who is at this 
moment driven from his throne. (Applause.) 
I say, it is simply providential, that at a 
moment like that, in this country, whose Con- 
stitution is founded on the principles of liberal 
Christianity, — is founded on the principles 
which arc laid down in all your standards of 
faith and in all our standards of faith, — I say, 
it as simply providential, that in this country, 
at this moment, this largest of the liberal 
communions should meet to hold its high day 
of festivity ; and I take it a .special privilege, 
that as the representative of another of the 
liberal bodies, I am permitted to say a single 
word before those who can hear me in this 
great assembly; for I believe in catholicity 
from the bottom of my heart; I believe in 
the Universal Church, in the Holy Catholic 
Church ; in that belief I was born, and in that 
belief, God helping me, I will die. I believe 
in that true uniformity of the U E Pluribus 
Unum" one made out of many — the great 
law which God has written over the whole of 
his creation. I believe in no such wretched 
uniformity as this of the pope of Rome, who 
would fain have but one wheel for his chariot, 
but one rut for his roadway, and who upon 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



69 



that chariot has stumbled, and beneath it is 
overwhelmed. (Loud applause.) 

I have no wish, in coming here, to suggest, 
even by an innuendo, any consolidation or any 
fusion of the bodies here represented. If it 
were my duty to carry from Boston to the 
great Pacific anything which I considered was 
of infinite value, I should not take it in a 
wheelbarrow. (Laughter.) I should be sure 
to find some wagon which could run upon a 
broad track, and which should have two 
wheels, the one on this side, the other on that 
side, if I would go successfully to my jour- 
ney's end. (Applause.) 

Union in the midst of diversity, — that is 
the great law which God has written in his 
works, and I think there is something which 
is the finest illustration of the great Universal 
Church of the future, in the happy and friend- 
ly relation which, as I believe, connects, in a 
vital sympathy, the two leading liberal bodies 
of America. (Applause.) I would as soon go 
from Boston to Hartford to invite the legisla- 
ture of Connecticut to throw aside their old 
charters, to destroy the memory of the sacred 
oak, to sink the constitution of that State 
beneath the wave, and to unite with a Massa- 
chusetts which should have committed the 
same folly with the record of these rocks of 
Murray and those rocks of Plymouth, that we 
might make a new State, whose capital should 
be upon the State line, if we could find it, as 



I would invite this religious body, or any 
religious body, with a history of its own, with 
martyrdoms of its own, with traditions of its 
own, to throw away that history for a mock 
fusion. But as I rejoice that I am a citizen of 
this great country, iu which thirty-six States 
have been united, under the glorious motto 
that we have chosen, so do I rejoice that at 
least two of the Christian bodies of this coun- 
try have been able to sympathize and rejoice 
together, yes, and to triumph together in the 
union which they have effected between them- 
selves (applause); that we can rejoice in 
each other's joys, that we can sorrow in each 
other's sorrow, that we can triumph in each 
other's victories. 

I said just now that this country was based 
upon the principles of your standards of faith 
and upon the principles of ours. America 
has based herself, for better and for worse, 
on universal suffrage. What does universal 
suffrage mean, but that the doctrine of total 
depravity is blasphemy and folly ? (Applause.) 
What does universal suffrage mean, but that 
the God of love loves each of his children, 
and gives to each of them some measure of 
his spirit? If America is to fail, it is because 
the doctrines of Calvinism and the Roman 
Catholic Church are true; if America is to 
succeed, it is because God is love, and loves 
each and all of his children. (Loud ap- 
plause.) 



Address of Rev. W. II. Ryder, D. B., of Chicago. 



Christian Friends: Before I proceed to the 
specific topic which has been assigned me, 
which is a little familar talk with reference to 
the appropriation of the funds which have 
been raised this year, and the general work of 
the Secretary, —looking, of course, to the ex- 
penditure of money, — and the particular line 
of operations in which our executive officer, 
the Permanent Secretary, shall engage him- 
self, allow me to express my very great joy 
in view of the excellent remarks to which you 
have just listened, and my personal hearty 
endorsement of every word of them. (Ap- 
plause ) 

After the eloquent remarks to which you 
have listened from the three speakers who 
have addressed you in my hearing, I am 
almost afraid I shall not be able to keep your 
attention in this practical talk of mice. 

The first question is, To what uses shad 



the money which we have raised during this 
last year be applied ? I will mention, first, 
some of those which have been already talked 
about and written about, making only very 
hasty reference to them. In the first place, it 
seems to me that the money which has been 
raised this year ought to be quite largely 
appropriated to the education of young men 
for the work of the ministry. And when I 
state to you that in all probability, judging 
from the experience of the past six or eight 
years, we shall be obliged to afford pecuniary 
aid to something like two-thirds of all those 
who are prepared for the ministry, you will 
perceive at once, that unless we have money 
to use in that direction, and use it judiciously, 
we shall not be able to furnish our pulpits, we 
shall not get the help in the direction of 
ministerial supply that we so much need. I 
take it for granted that there cannot be much 



70 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY 



difference of judgment among those who have 
bestowed any thought upon this subject, and 
I therefore pass on, and observe, — 

Secondly/that we ought to do something 
wiih this money in aid of feeble societies; 
not with any extravagant outlay to build 
churches, not with any large bestowal of 
considerable sums of money, but a little 
friendly, judicious help here and there given, 
which shall show our appreciation of particu- 
lar efforts in important localities, and be an 
encouragement to the brethren in important 
central places to go on and do their work. 

I proceed to remark, in the third place, that 
it seems to me we ought to do something in 
the use of this money towards planting 
churches. Especially does my mind run over 
such large fields of labor as California, in 
which there is hardly, to-day, a Universalist 
society of any recognized power ; and large 
districts of territory west of the Mississippi, 
and west of the Missouri rivers, that ought to 
be occupied, and by a judicious supervision 
will be occupied. AVe have not to-day, in the 
State of Missouri, a single Universalist 
church. There is a minister present, very 
likely, in this audience, who is engaged in the 
construction of a church in Missouri, to be 
dedicated this autumn, — the first Universalist 
church ever built in that magnificent State. 
Let the convention remember these faithful 
laborers in that locality by some indication of 
its appreciation and respect. 

I would mention, fourthly, that it is to be 
expected that this money will be appropriated 
toward the publication of denominational lite- 
rature, and the issuing of such tracts *as the 
resolution of our friend from New York, Hon. 
Horace Greely, indicated. We shall do some- 
thing in this way toward calling public atten- 
tion to our peculiar theological ideas. 

But all these things are more or less famil- 
iar, and we are substantially agreed with 
reference to them; so I dwell no longer upon 
any of those particulars. 

Turning now to the work of the General 
Secretarv, it seems to me, Christian friends, 
that all the days of this coming year, and in 
the years of the immediate future, he ought 
to proceed upon a recognition of^these two 
ideas, as covering our essential needs. I 
thiuk some of us are making a great mistake 
in supposing that the great thing to do in the 
Universalist denomination, with reference to 
its enlargement and authority in this land, 
cousists in the dissemination of our peculiar 
ideas. I do not understand that to be the jrreat 



need. The great need of the Christian world 
is a knowledge of Universalism, but the great 
need of the Universalist denomination is quite 
another thing. 

Our specific need is the use of the materials 
that are properly ours, the appropriation of 
our strength, the consolidation of our power, 
the bringing of our people, everywhere, to 
realize that it is one thing intellectually to 
apprehend, and another thing personally to 
apply. (Applause.) There are any number 
of men all over the country who believe theo- 
retically in Universalism, and I am thankful 
for that; but that does not build up the 
Christian Church very much, and it does not 
build up our denomination but very little. I 
want the theory of salvation that we believe 
preached in every pulpit, taught in every 
Sunday school, and lived in every home. I want 
the doctrine that universal salvation implies 
universal obedience preached; that every man 
is bom into the kingdom of our Lord through 
faith in Jesus Christ, and becomes a consistent 
Universalist only when he consecrates his life 
to the good of his church and to the welfare of 
the world. I believe in universal salvation; 
but I believe in it on the basis of universal 
obedience, and I do not know any other. So. 
therefore, if we believe that every man, m 
order to be saved, is to be born into the king- 
dom of God, and become a consecrated Chris- 
tian in his life, let us preach it in our pulpits, 
and let the word of our Secretary, every- 
where he goes, and of all our representative 
men everywhere, be, " God is our Father and 
loves us, but we are spiritually His children only 
as we enter into spiritual communion with 
Him." I believe in the publication of our denom- 
inational ideas, and I want all men, everywhere, 
converted to a knowledge of our faith ; but a 
perception of the truth is not the application 
of it ; and the need of the denomination to-day 
is the application of the theory, — the per- 
sonal appropriation of what we profess to 
believe. 

I proceed, in the next place, to say that it 
seems to me that we need very much, every- 
where, to foster the spirit of denominational 
superintendence. I believe not in denomina- 
tional control, in any priestly, autocratic 
sense, but 1 believe our denomination is suf- 
fering sadly, unspeakably suffering, for lack of 
representative men travelling over the land, 
preaching correct doctrines, helping brethren 
in obscure, but still important places, doing 
what may be done towards saving those 
societies that have been organized but have be- 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



71 



come feeble, giving aid to the frontiers on the 
broad fields of the west, planting- the banner 
of the cross, and upholding its authority in that 
district until such Lime as the people become 
sufficiently numerous to sustain the ministry 
of the Word. How many societies we have 
lost because the right man, going with the 
right word and a few dollars, has not been 
there to save them ! There are societies to- 
day, feeble and faint only because a little judi- 
cious supervision is not exercised; and it is 
simply practical common sense, and sound 
business conduct, as I understand it, to have 
m'en under the control of the General Conven- 
tion whose business it is to know exactly 
what is the condition of the churches in each 
State, and in each district; keep ourselves 
posted thoroughly, and before it is too late, 
go there with the right man and with the 
needful dollars. 

We have no minister to-day in Oregon; in 
all those wide , districts, no representative 
man. Are we not foolish? Is it not absurd 
to let these opportunities pass? lean refer 
you to great sections of the West, where 
some of us years ago went to do a little mis- 
sionary service, and thought we had clone 
substantial work; but for need of continuance 
in that line, of somebody authorized by the Con- 
vention to go there and look after details, 
some other denomination occupies the ground ; 
the lot that in the general arrangement of the 
town was provided for us goes to some other 
society, and then we come along and pay six 
thousand dollars for a site for our church, 
which we might have had for nothing, and 
must take a back seat in the community when 
we might have had the front. Are we always 
to go on in this stupid way ? Will we make 
up our minds that we are to conduct the af- 
fairs of our denomination upon sound, discreet, 
business principles, or will we go on in this 
shiftless way? 

Now, brethren, I should not talk any longer. It 
is not necessary. I am weary from talking here, 
at the council and other places. Mrs. Liver- 
more almost wrung my heart out of me in the 
beginning, aud one after another has squeezed 
my soul out of me since I came upon the plat- 
form. As for brother Dc*lge, I shall owe 
him a grudge until I have a good opportunity 
to throw my arms around him, and then it 
will be all settled. 

Here, now, we are in the midst of Glouces- 
ter. Think of this grand and generous hos- 
pitality ! Think of what this town of Glouces- 
ter has shown itself to be in our magnificent 



reception and the generous boards they have 
every where spread ! (Applause.) If this be 
the fruit of Universalism, give us more fruit 
of the same kind! (Renewed applause.) 
Here Universalism is the dominant religion, 
and if this be the influence, — the bad, the 
vricked influence of Universalism, let the world 
have more of it, up and down, all over the 
earth ! 

But, brethren, Universalism in Gloucester 
is potent to-day, because Universalism is 
organized, in Gloucester, because people have 
been trained in it, because their souls are 
filled with it, because God has shed the light 
of his love upon them, and they are filled 
more or less to the full by His grace. Let us 
take this broad love into our hearts, let us go 
out into our homes, to the west, to the east, 
to the north, and to the south, and not simply 
throw up our hats in view of the jubilee, and 
say, " What a grand time we have had ! How 
magnificently Mrs. Livermore did talk! How 
splendidly brother Dodge talked! Why, 
brother Hale was there, and he couldn't have 
done better! It was perfectly sublime!" 
and so go on, using up all the magnificent 
grandiloquence we can think of. What 
then? We have done so much of it, it 
really amounts to nothing. Go home and go 
to work. Now is the time to vindicate our 
right to be on the earth ; our right to go out 
into this century and build up a Christian de- 
nomination. We have raised the money — 
all honor to the devotion of our people ! but 
the money is nothing by the side of personal 
consecration. Build up your churches, Chris- 
tianize your homes, live your Universalism 
wherever you are and in all you do, and then 
you make it respectable ; then you make it 
influential, then you make it an instrumen- 
tality by which God will convert the world. 
You are not going to convert it simply by im- 
buing men with liberal ideas. They will stay 
in the orthodox church. We are simply uni- 
versalizing orthodoxy ; we are simply knock- 
ing the rough edges from the old creed, aud 
making everything so pleasant and acceptable 
that people will stay where they are ; and 
when you congratulate yourselves on the lib- 
eral doctrine Ward Beecher preaches, or the 
liberal doctrine this man and the other man 
preaches, are you not congratulating your- 
selves on that which is your weakness, and will 
be, if you are not heedful, your death? That is 
the question. Make your denomination such 
a power in the land, make it so potent for 
good, make it, by your consecration, so 



72 



UNIVERSALIS! 1 CENTENARY 



respected, that these men, seeing what it is, 
shall not be ashamed to proclaim themselves 
ecclesiastically with you (theoretically they 
are with you), come into your parishes, work 
in your name, and serve under your banner. 
Take care, all ministers, all laymen, all editors, 
that you do not congratulate yourselves on 
that which is not an indication of your grow- 
ing power. 

Now, I want to say one word, and with that, 
I close. I do not believe so much in organ- 
ized Universalism that I do not rejoice in 
liberality anywhere ; but I am standing here 
this morning to answer the question, How 
to build up the Universalist denomination? 
Some other man will talk, if need be, about 
men being born iuto the kingdom in any de- 
nomination, in any community, and under any 
name. I understand all that, and feel the force 
of it. But if there is a Methodist man in 
this audience, I say to him, "Brother, stand 
by your faith ! If you are a Methodist, sup- 
port your church ; do your duty in your denom- 
ination. If you are a Unitarian, and believe 
that is right, stand up for Unitarianism here 
and everywhere. Be you Orthodox, Episco- 
palian, or whatever you may be, serve your 
church, make it respectable, do all you can to 
carry it forward. 

We sympathize with you in every sinner 
you convert from the error of his ways, and 
pray God to give you victory and success. 
We are not so narrow that we do not rejoice 
in Christian labor in any name or in any de- 



nomination. But while I urge devotion else- 
where, I urge devotion in my own denomina- 
tion, and I stand here to plead for it, to argue 
for it, to pray for it; to implore you, as you 
love its welfare, to apply your theology prac- 
tically to your own living; not simply be sat- 
isfied, because your neighbor brings a barrel 
of flour to your door, to know that the barrel 
of flour is there, but see that the barrel of 
flour is put in the proper place in the house, 
and the contents suitably prepared to give 
you nutriment; and when all that is done, do 
not simply admire the crockery on the table, 
and the knife and fork ready to use, but appro- 
priate it to your individual need. 

The trouble with us as a people to-day is, 
we leave the flour barrel at the back door. 
(Applause.) The trouble with us as a de- 
nomination to day is, we do not make our 
theory a practical force in the denomination. 
Every Methodist man knows what Methodism 
means — you must be converted in order to 
be saved. Universalists believe just as much 
in conversion as the Methodists do. We say 
there is no other way to the kingdom of heav- 
en but through and by the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
and yet, what are we as a Christian church 
doing in this direction? How many of our 
pulpits proclaim this truth to their people day 
after day and month after month? Let this 
be our theme, this be our purpose, and let the 
General Secretary, wherever he goes, and in all 
he does, seek to build up a Christian denomi- 
nation, on the basis of Christ and his Apostles. 



Address of Henry B. Metcalf. 



Amid the reports of splendid achievements 
in this, our year of jubilee, of deeds of gener- 
osity surprising even the generous donors, of 
noble sacrifice and toil by the Universalist 
men and women throughout the length and 
breadth of our land, all expressed from warm 
and grateful hearts through eloquent lips, 
you are, in the very height of your enthusiasm, 
invited to an interview with a plain business 
man. 

My duty on the present occasion is some- 
what clearly defined in the invitation from 
your committee to address you. I am not ex- 
pected to speak on the general subject con- 
cerning which it is so difficult for any one to 
keep silence, the grand awakening of our 
Universalist church, so unprecedented in its 



history, so glorious in its promises for the 
future. 

I have to deal only with a simple method of 
work, that method having its representation 
in a little paper box some four or five inches 
long and three inches wide, invented in the 
wilds of New Jersey and manufactured in the 
immaculate city of New York, at a cost some- 
what less than is demanded for a tolerable 
cigar ; to the uninitiated and uninterested, a 
pleasing child's tdy, but, in point of fact, an 
instrumentality for usefulness in our church, 
never excelled, and, in many respects, never 
equalled. 

Because of the warmth of my conviction of 
the immense power of the Missionary Army, 
and the great effectiveness of its weapon, 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



73 



the missionary box, I stand before you to- 
day. Not even an officer of the army, only 
a volunteer, one of the " rank and file,'' I 
have been privileged to enjoy such a measure 
of intimacy with the thoughts and plans of 
those in authority as to warrant a confidence 
that my views are largely in harmony With 
theirs, and that the suggestions I may offer 
will receive their assent and approval. 

I am compelled, very reluctantly, to aban- 
don my intention to present statistics some- 
what in detail, of the organization of the 
missionary army ; owing to the tardiness and 
incompleteness of the reports to the secre- 
tary and agents, any detailed statement would 
be too inaccurate and imperfect to be profit- 
able. 

In general terms, I may remark that the 
success of the plan has far exceeded the most 
sanguine expectations of its founder. As 
stated in the report of your secretary, some 
25,000 boxes are already on duty, and, so far 
as we are advised, there has, as yet, been no 
diminution of interest. 

In my personal relations to the work, I 
have enjoyed warm and devoted sympathy 
and co-operation from many of our most 
devoted brethren and sisters, and I avail my- 
self of this opportunity to express my grati- 
tude therefor. 

In the few moments of your time that I 
may properly occupy, while most heartily re- 
joicing with you in the grand record of the 
past, I must seek to turn your thought to the 
grander possibilities of the future and the 
attendant duties. 

Let us not, for one moment, deceive our- 
selves with the idea that what has been done 
affords us the slightest claim to exemption 
from future duty, and especially, fellow-mem- 
bers of the missionary army, I beg you, each 
and every one, to say with me, in the words 
of another, " I have just begun to fight." 

With victory within our grasp, let us not 
halt for a moment, but press forward where 
duty calls. 

"We can hardly expect that every one will, at 
once, appreciate the full power or the possible 
efficiency of the missionary army. 
- A good brother said to me, " the missionary 
box plan is an excellent one, as it will bring 
in a large amount of money." 

Ear be it from me to depreciate the potency 
of money ; but I had to tell our brother that 
his conviction was better than his reason 
therefor, and that he discovered only the 



weaker element of our organization. Twenty- 
five thousand earnest men, women and chil- 
dren, can doubtless raise a large amount of 
money; but an army of twenty-five thousand, 
aggressive as well as defensive, enlisted for a 
common cause, openly and proudly displaying 
its banner, actively seeking recruits, with its 
members continuously strengthening them- 
selves and each other, muscle and soul, by 
their very work, constitutes a power not to be 
measured by a cash standard. 

In the progress of the late war, no develop- 
ment was more grand than that manifested 
in the labors of the men, women and child- 
ren constituting the working force of that 
noble organization, (having, among its most 
honored leaders, one of the noblest of Univer- 
salist women) the U. S. Sanitary Commission. 

Its record includes the raising of immense 
sums of money, the unlimited provision of 
comforts for our noble soldiers, and the almost 
unparalleled devotion and sacrifice of noble 
men and women, in their efforts to ameliorate 
the sufferings of the sick and the wounded. 
How can we ever estimate such a record of 
achievement? Yet it did far more than this ; 
by the very act of its work it made patriots 
of the weak and timid all over the land, and, 
by its irresistible demand for aid, it con- 
quered even disloyalty itself. 

I think I may safely assert that no man, 
woman or child who, during the past year, 
has given to aid our centenary work, whether 
freely from an abundant store, or like the 
widow of old who cast her mite into the 
treasury of the Lord, but has felt thereby en- 
riched and strengthened, able to do more and 
better of local duty than ever before ; while 
beyond this result, so satisfactory in itself, 
comes the immeasurable accretion of strength 
to our church attendant on the bold declara- 
tion to our neighbors and friends throughout 
the land, that we recognize the fact that there 
is a battle to be fought, a victory to be won 
and that we have no money too good to be 
spent in such a cause. 

Waiving the consideration of the purposes 
to which the monies laised are to be applied, 
our Church cannot afford to forego the im- 
mense strength derivable from general contri- 
butions to a common cause, from rich and 
poor, old and young, from east and west, 
north and south. 

Whatever instrumentalities may be used to 
this end, none can be made so generally and 
continuously effective as the missionary box. 



74 



UNIVERSALIS!' CENTENARY, 



Please consider with me some of the obvi- 
ous reasons for such au assumption. 

I name first, its economy ; the work has been 
conducted, thus far, distributing twenty to 
twenty-five thousand boxes, and raising some 
twelve thousand dollars, at no expense (be- 
yond first cost of boxes) other than some clerk 
hire in New York in making up accounts, and 
the actual cost of expressage, postage, &c. 
The convention has not paid a dollar for ser- 
vices in distribution or collection. 

I name next the popularity of the work, or 
(in the proper sense) its democracy. I do not 
claim that numbers always accurately repre- 
sent strength ; but, provided each member of 
an organization is at work, the power of num- 
bers is beyond dispute. The missionary army 
meets this condition, in the fact that it has a 
place for every one, young and old, rich and 
poor, and something for every one to do. 

Again, its work is continuous, not spas- 
modic ; the missionary box being a continual 
and ever present monitor, to incite to duty. 

Once more, the missionary box, by its very 
presence in a family, is a perpetual declara- 
tion of faith, — a feature that can hardly be 
too highly extolled. The voluntary declara- 
tion to the world, " I am a Universalist," is a 
basis of hrmense strength to our church, — a 
foundation not easily to be shaken. How 
much we need every instrumentality to such 
an end, I need not use your time to demon- 
strate, for the conviction is doubtless present 
with every one of you. Another consideration 
Is, that the work of the Missionary army can 
be made to extend far beyond the limits of 
parish organizations, and its representative 
will be welcomed as a real blessing by thou- 
sands of Universalists, who, by force of cir- 
cumstances, are severed from Universalist 
associations, and who will find delight in 
using an instrumentality whereby, according 
to their ability, they may testify to their love 
for the Universaiist church and its work. 
This is no mere theory. Had I the time, I 
could quote from a score of letters to the 
officers of the Convention and distributing 
agents, most enthusiastically giving allegiance 
to the Missionary Army, because of this con- 
sideration. 

I may refer you, also, to the fact that it pro- 
vides for direct intercourse with our central 
officers, and thereby provides an antidote to 
the dangers (real or supposed) of centraliza- 
tion. 

Central authority seems to be, in some 



measure, indispensable, but, to be healthful., 
it must be active in its intercourse with every 
part of its constituency ; the duties of the mis- 
sionary army furnish admirable facilities to 
such an end. 

A further consideration is, that it utilizes 
the inevitable strength that comes from the 
fact of co-operation; that confidence of 
the support of others which, at times, 
makes soldiery so effective, the "shoulder 
to shoulder " sensation, that so strengthens 
any body of men, whatever the object of 
assault; the consequences of co-workers on 
either hand and behind and before. 

Last, but not least, the plan of the mission- 
ary army commends itself by its remarkable 
simplicity ; everybody can understand it, with- 
out argument or elaborate explanation. 

The merits of the plan seem to be almost 
innumerable, but, if I have stated enough to 
secure your warm interest in the work, my 
aim will have been answered. 

I assume that the woik has just begun, and 
I ask you, every one, for your zealous aid to 
continue and greatly increase its success. 
Indications of your confidence in the work 
will inspire confidence in others. Tray treat 
it in your conversation, as well as in your ex- 
hortation, as a matter of importance, well 
worthy of good and thorough work. If uced 
be, defend its dignity ; the mission box does 
not represent any mere child's-play, but it 
stands for a splendid principle that is well 
understood in the Roman Catholic and in 
some organizations of the Protestant church, 
viz that the greatest measure of strength to 
a church comes not from large individual con- 
tributions, whether of work or money, but 
from the universality of the active interest of 
the masses. 

We have passed our experimental stage and 
have entered just far enough upon actual ex- 
perience to discern the immensity of the pos- 
sibilities that await us. We drop the question 
of what we can do ; the only question unan- 
swered is what we will do. 

Permit me, before closing, to refer to one 
hindrance to success that attends almost 
every effort, wherein large numbers are in- 
terested, and that is the tendency, while ac- 
cepting the principle, to waste much precious 
time and strength in criticising unimportant 
points of form and method. I am no de- 
fender of Papal infallibility, but I think that 
when we deliberately select the officers who 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



75 



are to lead our work and when we really ap- 
prove the principle and intent of their action 
submitted to us, we can usually afford to ac- 
cept plaus and methods as prepared, and go to 
work at once. Our missionary army has had 
its full share of the kind of embarrassment 
referred to, to the really serious detriment of 
its work. I suppose it to be but a common 
streak of human nature to desire to build 
one's house a little higher or a little lower, a 
little longer or a little shorter than the archi- 
tect has planned and to change the location 
of all the closets two or three times during 
process of construction, but while the right 
of an owner so to act is beyond dispute, the 
fact remains that it will always be found to 
be terribly expensive. 

Choose the officers of your missionary 
army very carefully; have none whose gen- 
eral discretion and good judgment is ever 



questionable ; but when such men have made 
the plan of campaign, it will be safe to accept 
it and go to work, and any other mode of 
action will be terribly expensive. 

The plan of family contribution boxes was 
devised in the interest of the work of our 
General Convention, and belongs as much to 
that interest as if it were patented by law. 

Diversions of such form of work to the 
right or the left, to build a steeple in Massa- 
chusetts, to dig a cellar in California, or to 
buy a bass viol in Connecticut, admit of but 
one result, viz : the overthrow of the entire 
plan. 

Brethren and Sisters, fellow members of 
the Missionary Army, what shall be the 
record of our work and its results? 

Our whole plan is eminently Christian ; no 
one sounds a trumpet before him as he gives, 
but all put mites into the treasury of the Lord. 



SERVICES AT THE OLD 

MUEEAY MEETIDSTGKHOTTSE 

AND GEAVE OF 

:FLE-V- THOMAS J"03STES- 



Among the many interesting and impressive 
events of the Centenary Celebration at Glou- 
cester, the commemorative services at the old 
building once used as the place of worship of 
the society of which Rev. John Murray was 
pastor, took a prominent place. The building 
now stands on the farm of Mr. Edward H. 
Pearce, about two miles from Gloucester, on 
the road to Squam, and is used as a barn, hav- 
ing nothing in its outward appearance or in- 
terior arrangements to distinguish it from other 
buildings used for similar purposes. 

The commemorative services took place on 
Thursday morning, Sept. 22d, and were con- 
ducted by Rev. Abel C. Thomas. As early as 
eight o'clock, quite a number of people had 
collected on the premises, and before nine, the 
hour appointed for the services, at least a 
thousand persons had reached the spot, who 
manifested great interest in exploring that part 
ofthe building which was accessible, which 
was very small, the mows and scaffolds being 
filled with hay and straw. A small platform 
at the rear of the barn had been cleared, and 
on it were a number of bouquets of wild and 
cultivated flowers, the kind offerings of Meth- 
odist friends in the vicinity. 

At nine o'clock, a cart was drawn up in 
front of the barn, and Rev. Mr. Thomas, Rev. 
Eli Ballou, D.D., of Vermont, the venerable 
Geo. W. Bazin, and some others, stepped into 
it, and the services were commenced by Rev. 
Mr. Thomas, who said : 

" The building which we visit to-day was 
erected in 1778, and dedicated upon Christmas 
of that year. You have all read the history of 
John Murray. How upon the 28th of Sept., 
1770, he landed upon the coast of New Jer- 
sey, and preached the next succeeding Sun- 
day, which was the 30th of the same month, 



and we meet here as upon the centenary, 
though it is not strictly so. Mr. Murray 
preached in the first place only as a missionary, 
having no intention of settling as a pastor. 
He preached in several places upon the sea- 
coast, in that sandy district centering in Good 
Luck, where was the old Potter meeting-house, 
passed through the belt of pines upon the 
borders of the Delaware and preached in 
a number of places there, finding his rest 
in Philadelphia for some time, and so con- 
tinued until 1773, when he came to Boston. 
He was sent for by certain people residing 
in the village of Gloucester, — for Univer- 
salism was in Gloucester before Murray came 
here. There were a number of persons who 
had obtained possession of some of Kelly's 
writings ; I know not how many they were ; 
they were few in number, but strong in faith, 
and having heard there was a Universalist 
preacher in Boston, they sent for him, and his 
first visit to Gloucester was in 1774. Here he 
was settled as pastor, the people worshipping 
in private houses, until, in 1778, as I have men- 
tioned, this house was erected, — dimensions 
33 by 45, — and dedicated, as I have said, up- 
on Christmas of that year. It continued to be 
used as a place of worship until 1805. 
In 1805, a new house having been erected, 
the old one was vacated, and appropriated 
to secular purposes. It remained upon its 
original site in the village until 1815, when 
one of the friends of Mr. Murray, who owned 
this farm at the time, Father Pearce, bought 
the old meeting-house and removed it to thi3 
spot, and it has since been used as a hay barn 
and stable. 

We know very well that holiness cannot be 
affirmed of anything strictly material, and yet 
the uses and the associations of a material 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



77 



thing may become to us very spiritualizing, 
may lift us above the ordinary plane of thought 
into communion with things which are divine. 
Even the plain Quaker himself cannot ap- 
proach a meeting-house with the same feeling 
that he approaches a store-house or a bridge. 
So we come here to-day, not designing to wor- 
ship the fathers, but to speak well of them ; 
not to worship this ancient binding, but to rev- 
erence the principles which were taught in it, 
which seemed to grow out from its sills and 
even from its very foundations. I have no 
doubt that the associations of this day will 
prove to us religious elements in all time to 
come. 

Prayer was then offered by Rev. Dr. Eli 
Ballou as follows : 

" Almighty Father of our spirits, we thank 
thee for this pleasant morning and for this 
auspicious occasion. We thank thee that we 
are permitted to come to this place made sa- 
cred to us by its remarkable associations. Oh 
God ! we thank thee that thou hast revealed 
thy truth to us, and that we are called upon to 
commemorate remarkable events and person- 
ages, and that all these things are calculated to 
inspire our hearts with devotional feelings, and 
with the spirit of loyalty to thy truth. 

As we gather here this morning, we would 
desire to realize that thou art present with us. 
Thou art the infinite mind, the father of all 
spirits, and thy years have no end. Oh grant, 
we pray thee, to inspire our hearts with thine 
own spirit this morning, as we gather at this 
place for these services ; and we pray, Father, 
that it may be sanctified to our spiritual profit. 
We pray, O God, that thou wilt be with us on 
this occasion, and sanctify these services to our 
spiritual benefit. We remember, as we gather 
here, that there was One greater than even our 
father whom we remember to-day; that there 
was One who was cradled in a manger, who 
is over all. Grant, we pray thee, that we 
may remember Him as the first and the high- 
est. Exalted^ God, be his name above every 
name ! 

Father, we pray that thou wilt bless us this 
morning by the influence of thy Holy Spirit, 
and grant, we pray thee, that we may carry 
away with us those recollections that shall be 
with us during all our natural lives, that they 
may exert a purifying and uplifting influence 
upon our souls in every walk of life. 



Father, we pray that thou will forgive us 
our sins, that thou wilt be with us in all life's 
journey, and finally gather us into that houst 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, 
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And to the 
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, 
and of all things, we would ascribe glory and 
honor forever, — Amen." 

The following hymn was then sung by the 
assembled multitude : 

Whilst far and •wide thy scattered sheep, 
Great Shepherd, in the desert stray, 

Thy love by some is thought to sleep, 
Unheedful of the wanderer's way. 

But truth declares they shall be found, 
Wherever now they darkling roam, 

Thy love shall through the desert sound, 
And summon every wanderer home. 

Upon the darkened ways of sin, 
Instead of terror's sword and flame, 

Shall love descend — for love can win 
Far more than terror can reclaim. 

And they shall turn their wandering feet, 
By grace redeemed, by love controlled, 

Till all at last in Eden meet, 
One happy, universal fold. 

Responsive Service. 
All the ends of the world shall remember 
and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds 
of the nations shall worship before thee : 

For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the 
Governor among the nations. 

Send forth thy light and thy truth, O Lord : 
let them lead us and bring us to thy holy hill, 
and to thy tabernacles, even unto God our ex- 
ceeding joy. 

Thou wilt show us the path of life : in thy 
presence is fulness of joy : at thy right hand there 
are pleasures for evermore. 

How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord 
of Hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth 
for the courts of the Lord : 

My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living 
God. 

As the sparrow findeth a house, and the 
swallow a nest for herself where she may hide 
her young, so let me dwell at thine altars, O 
Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. 

Blessed are they tcho dwell in thy house : they 
will be still praising thee. 

A day in thy courts is better than a thousand 
elsewhere : I had rather be a door-keeper in 



78 



UMVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



the house of my God than to dwell in the tents 
of ungodliness. 

Lord of Hosts, blessed is the man that trust- 
eih in thee. 

Thy perfection is higher than heaven : what 
can we do to celebrate thy praise ? It is deep- 
er than hell : what can we know of thv fathom- 
less love V 

We praise thee, God : we acknowledge thee 
to be the Lord. 

All the earth doth worship thee, the Father 
everlasting. To thee all angels cry aloud, the 
heavens and all the powers therein. To thee, 
cherubim and seraphim continually do cry. 

Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sdbaoth ! heaven and 
earth are full oj the majesty of thy glory ! 

The illustrious procession of the patriarchs 
praise thee : 

The jubilant assembly of the prophets praise 
thee :• 

The glorious company of the apostles praise 
thee : 

The noble army of martyrs praise thee : 

The Holy Church throughout all the world 
doth acknowledge thee, the Father of an in- 
finite majesty : 

Also thy well-beloved and consecrated Son and 
the Holy Ghost the Comforter. 

O God, the King of Glory, help thy servants 
whom thou hast redeemed by the hand of thy 
mighty power : 

Make them to be numbered with thy saints in 
glory everlasting. 

O Lord, save thy people and bless thy her- 
itage : govern and lift them up for ever. 

Day by day we magnify thee; and we wor- 
ship thy name ever ; world without end. 

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us evermore 
without sin. All our trust is in thee. 

Lord, in thee have I trusted: Let me never 
be confounded. 

The following hymn, adapted by Rev. A. C. 
Thomas, was then sung, to a tune familiar to 
all, with thrilling effect : 

Remembering the saints of a hundred years ago, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zioc, 
The heavens above are bowed to the joyful earth below, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 
Hail the Redeemer, faithful and true, 
Conquering by many, conquering by few, 
T^hile we gather round the old church, 
Or gather in the new, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 



The building-stone shall cry from the holy tempfe wall, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 
And the timber-beam shall answer to the spirit-stirring call, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 
Hail the Redeemer, &c. 
The word of faith we honor, be it new or be it old, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion, 
To nations jet unborn shall its blessedness unfold, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 
Hail the Redeemer, &c. 

Os>veet shall be the worship, when from earth we pass 
away, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion, 
In a house not made with hands in the realm of endless day, 

Shouting the banner-cry of Zion. 
Hall the Redeemer, &c. 

The Benediction was then pronounced, and 
the services were brought to a close. 

At the conclusion of the exercises at the old 
meeting-house, most of the company hastened 
to the Cemetery, where a similar service was 
to be held in commemoration of the life and la- 
bors of Rev. Thomas Jones. A granite shaft 
upon an elevated pedestal, marks the spot 
where rests the dust of this faithful servant of 
God. The inscription is as follows : 

Erected by the Independent Christian Society, 

IN MEMORY OF 

REV. THOMAS JONES, 

Their Pastor for 42 years, 
Who died Aug. 20, 1846, aged 83. 

And of his wife, Sophia, 

Who died April 17, 1850, aged 84. 

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

A handsome wreath of white flowers was 
hung upon the monument, and a number of 
tasteful bouquets were placed around its base. 

The people having gathered about the 
grave, and quiet secured, Eev. Mr. Thomas 
said : 

Kev. Thomas Jones, successor of Murray in 
Gloucester Harbor, was for forty-two years the 
Minister of that Parish. Rev. Ezra Leonard, 
minister in Annisquam Parish for long years, 
became a Universalist and carried his entire 
congregation with him into the new Gospel. 
A faithful and honorable life, in each case, 
was crowned by a peaceful death ; and one of 
the lessons we would fain embody in supplica- 
tion is this 

PRAYER BY REV. T. E. ST. JOHN. 

Almighty and ever living God, who art the 
life of every soul that looks to thee, sensibly do 
we realize, that in thee we live and move and 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



79 



have our being, that thou art Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first 
and the last, and as the spirits of all come from 
thee, so into thy hands do all souls rest at last. 
"We come, O God. with great faith in thine 
ever-abounding love and grace; we come 
thanking thee for thy revelation of life and im- 
mortality, which enables us to know that if the 
earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, 
we have a building of God, a house not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens. We praise 
thy name that we can look forward in joyful 
anticipation to that home above, where father 
and mother, sister and brother and child, all 
meet around the throne, to part no more for 
ever. 

We bless thee for the revelations of Christ 
our Lord, who was the resurrection and the 
life. Let the spirit of the Master be upon us, 
that we may hold up before the world a living 
faith in thy providences and in thee. We 
thank thee ior the lives of the fathers. May 
the mantle they wore descend upon us, but 
may we ever remember, that to receive that 
mantle, we must take it at the foot of the cross. 
Guile us ever, prepare us for life's duties, and 
the praise shall be thine, through Christ our 
Lord — Amen. 

The congregation then sang the following 

hymn : 

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee, 
S'en tho' it be a cross, that raiseth me : 

Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer my God, to thee, nearer to thee. 

There let the way appear, steps up to heaven, 
All that thou sendest me, in mercy given: 

Angels to beckon me, 
Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee. 

Then with my waking tho"ts bright with thy praise, 
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise : 

So by my woes to be, 
Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee. 

A responsive service followed,in which Revs. 
A. C. Thomas, A. Wilson, T. E. St. John, 
A. J. Patterson, W. G. Haskell, G. W. Qninby, 
G. W. Skinner, C W. Tomlinson, and T. W. 

Silloway took part, as follows : 

The mighty God, even ihe Lord hath spoken 
and called the earth from the rising of the sun 
unto the going down thereof. 

From the rising of ihe sun, unto the going down 
of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord — make 
straight in the desert a highway for our God. 



Every valley shall be exalted, and every 
mountain and hill shall be made low : the 
crooked shall be made straight and the rough 
places plain : And the glory of the Lord shall 
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: 

For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the 
feet of him who bringeth good tidings, who 
publisheth peace, who bringeth good tidings of 
good, who publisheth salvation : who saith un- 
to Zion, Thy God reigneth. 

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with 
the voice together shall they sing, for they shall 
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again 
Zion. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm 
in the eyes of all the nations : 

And all the ends of the earth shall see ihe sal- 
vation of our God. 

The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, 
and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; 
and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that 
day. 

And in that day shall the deaf hear the 
words of the book, and the eyes of the blind 
shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. 
The meek also shall increase their joy in the 
Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in 
the Holy One of Israel. 

Ye shall go out with joy and be led forth 
with peace : the mountains and the hills shall 
break forth before you into singing, and all 
the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir- 
tree, and instecid of the brier shall come up the 
myrtle tree ; and it shall be to the Lord for a 
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be 
cut off. 

Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory and 
honor and power, for Thou hast created cdl 
thing*, and for thy pleasure they are and were cre- 
ated. 

Wherefore, with angels and archangels, and 
all the company of the redeemed, and in pro- 
phetic fellowship with all souls in the heights 
and the. depths of the universe, we laud and 
magnify thy holy name : 

Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,be 
unto him icho sitteth on the throne and unto the 
Lamb fur ever. 

ADDRESS AXD PRAYER, BY A. C. T. 

We come not hither superstitiou.-dy to gar- 
nish the sepulchres of the righteous, but re- 



80 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



ligiously to freshen the inscriptions on the 
tombs of the saints. And may we not- confi- 
dently believe that the simple memorial ser- 
vice in which we unite this day, shall be pho- 
tographed on our inner life, and by association 
bring us into worshipful communion with the 
general assembly and church of the first-born ; 
whose names are enrolled in heaven ? 

" Part of the host have crossed the flood, 
And part are crossing now," 

and many of us stand upon its margin,, listen- 
ing to the triumphal shoutings which come to 
us through the open gates of day ; and our own 
songs of victory, rising over this lowly bed of 
dust, shall be an inspiration of both promise 
and prophecy in the hereafter of the world. 

— Ever living God, with whom the righteous 
are in everlasting remembrance : We give thee 
hearty thanks for the good examples of all 
those thy servants, who, having pursued their 
course with dligence and finished it with joy, 
have laid down the burden of the flesh and en- 
tered into thy heavenly rest. May their man- 
tle continue in the midst of us, O Lord, and 
grant, we beseech thee, that our own labors 
may be kept in grateful recollection when the 
places that now know us, shall know us no 
more. 

Rev. T. D. Cook. 

I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith 
the Lord : He that believeth in me, though he 
were dead, yet shall he live ; and he that liv- 
eth and believeth in me, shall never die. 

Rev. Augusta J. Chapin. 
I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto 
me, Write : Blessed are the dead who die in 



Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them. 

Rev. A. C. Thomas. 

We strew this evergreen and these flow- 
ers, in memory and honor of Rev. Thomas 
Jones and Rev. Ezra Leonard, and of the an- 
cients, now departed, who held up their hands 
while they prayed, even until the going down 
of the sun. They fulfilled the condition and 
received the promised inheritance : " Be thou 
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown 
of life." 

The following hymn, adapted by Rev. Mr. 
Thomas, was then sung by the congregation : 

Marching on, marching on, in the century gone, 
The glad train of pilgrims by faith we behold, 
And the sheen of their robes is the jubilee-dawn 
That bursts thro' the gates of the city of gold. 

Marching, marching on, shout the triumph-cry— 
Marching, marching on, shout the victory ! 
Marching on, in the century gone, &c. 

Pressing on, praying on, in the vesture of clay, 
With sandals and staff and the voice of a psalm, 

We follow that train to the portals of day, 
The kingdom and glory of God and the Lamb. 
Marching on, &c. 

Pressing on toward the mark by a hallowing faith, 
Communion we hold with the pilgrims of yore, 

For the paths that lead down to the shadow of death, 
Lead upward and onward to life evermore. 
Marching on, &c. 

By request, the hymn sung at the old meet- 
ing house, commencing 

" Remembering the saints of a hundred years ago," 

was repeated, after which, the benediction was 
pronounced by Mr. Thomas, and the congrega- 
tion dispersed. 



CONFERENCE MEETINGS. 



Probably no more important meetings were beld 
during the three days than those for Conference and 
Prayer. "We have given so much space, however, 
to Reports, Proceedings, Addresses and Services, 
that we find it necessary to content ourselves with 
a very brief mention of these deeply interesting oc- 
casions. Conference meetings were held each morn- 
ing in the Universalist church, Wednesday and 
Thursday mornings in the great Tent, every morn- 
ing and one or two evenings in the Roxbury and 
Lynn Tents. They were uniformly attended by 
large numbers and were pervaded by the Divine 
Spirit. Appropriately, the series of meetings was 
closed by a Conference in the Universalist church 
on Thursday evening. Of that we have the follow- 
ing account : 

The closing Conference meeting was appointed 
at the Universalist Church at half past seven. 
But the church was so densely crowded long before 
that hour that the meeting was opened at seven. 
Rev. C. II. Fay of Middletown, Conn, took charge 
of the meeting, and after a voluntary by the choir 
and prayer by Rev. S. A. Davis of Hartford, Conn, 
read the fifteenth chapter of John, — "1 am the true 
vine &c., which furnished the text for his remarks 
on fruit-bearing. The aim and true result of Chris- 
tianity is that we " bear much fruit." And this 
fruit is not to be found primarily, in our perfect or- 
ganizations, in our growth and numbers, in our glo- 
rification of our doctrines, in nothing external or 
incidental. It is rather that "fruit of the Spirit" 
of which the apostle speaks which is love, joy, and 
peace, gentleness, goodness and faith. 

He was followed by Rev. G. W. Skinner of 
Quincy, Mass., who called attention to the fact that 
by our new organization we were now a Church, 
and no longer a loose denominational organization 
and we should feel the closer ties of church rela- 
tion and obligation and the more sacred privileges 



of church-fellowship. This was very forcibly and 
ably illustrated by the speaker. 

Rev. A. C. Thomas of Philadelphia spoke of the 
fruits which Universalism produces in the lives of 
its believers,making them self-possessed, reliant and 
trustworthy. This was exemplified by the quiet 
and order of the great gathering just closing. His 
remarks were followed by anecdotes and illustra- 
tions bearing on the subject. He was followed by 
a lay brother who spoke of the joys our faith af- 
ford to its believers. 

Rev. T. D. Cook of New York was the next 
speaker, who followed the line of thought of the 
meeting with some excellent remarks. Rev. J. J. 
Twiss of Lowell, Mass. spoke of the warmth and 
devotion of the Methodist love-feasts, and wished 
that we might make the present meeting a love- 
feast as a fit close of the spiritual communion we 
had been for days enjoying. Rev. C. R. Moor of 
Augusta, Me., spoke of the present exaltation of re- 
ligious fervor and zeal that pervaded our church, 
and exhorted all to sustain the same spirit through- 
out the next year and all those to come. 

Rev. H. R. Nye of Springfield, Mass., spoke of 
the spiritual fruits of the century work in our 
churches, and Rev. G. W. Quinby of Augusta, Me. 
spoke of one of his personal observations of the 
same effects. Two or three lay brothers whose 
names we did not learn also gave their testimony 
to the preciousness of the faith and enlarged upon 
the duties and obligations before us. Rev. C. Da- 
mon of Haverhill, Mass., and Rev. E. S. Poster of 
Chester, Vt., spoke briefly and well, urging the ne- 
cessity of zeal and consecration in the cause of the 
Master. 

The meeting was enlivened throughout by excel- 
lent congregational singing. At a late hour it was 
closed, all joining in silent prayer, and afterwards 
in the Lord's Prayer, after which the benediction 
was pronounced by Br. Pay. 



prea^hi^g- SEEYICES, 

TUESDAY EVENING. 
Meeting in the Baptist Tabernacle. 



Services were held in the Baptist Tabernacle, 
corner of Mason and School streets, (which is a 
temporary structure, the church having been 
destroyed by fire),on Tuesday evening. The house 
was well filled, although not crowded. After the 
usual devotional exercises, conducted by Prof. J.S. 
Lee, and Rev. Dr. Saxe, of N. Y., Rev. S. H. Mc- 
Collester, of N. H., preached a sermon from the 
text, 2 Cor. 3 : 6," The Spirit giveth life." 

What is life ? he asked. Is it life that grows 
the grain, colors the flowers, rotates the seasons, 
nourishes the plants, and covers the universe with 
infinite variety 1 In examining the visible, we are 
liable to become unconscious of the invisible. 
Material science is exceedingly fascinating, and the 
botanist, the mineralogist, the astronomer, and the 
lover of nature become so intent in their several 
studies, that they frequently forget to inquire how 
or why these things exist. They become so taken 
up with the seen, that they frequently draw the 
conclusion that there can be nothing beyond or su- 
perior to it. Some physiologists have said that the 
life principle will be found in the little cells floating 
in the sap or blood, but they have failed to tell us 
whence they derive their vitality. Because exis- 
tence is traced clown to a point or condition, we do 
not account for its reality. There is as much mys- 
tery about the vital force of a gnat as that of an 
elephant. Reason as we will, we cannot be con- 
tent with the notion that a simple condition pro- 
duces life, that inert matter can vitalize itself, that 
the mortal can clothe itself with immortality. 
Rather the reverse of this is true : life gives form ; 
lives create shapes. It would be impossible to ac- 
count for the phenomenon if there was not some- 
thing superior to the material, if there was not 
something that moulds and vitalizes. Life is the 
great chemist, the universe is its laboratory, and or- 
ganized bodies its work. As we see earth and air 
teeming with objects which set at defiance the laws 
of matter, we can but believe that the unseen con- 
trols the seen, that life is more than matter. 

Life being above the things of this world, the 
question arises, " Is all life immortal 't " Is the vi- 
tal principle of the tree and the horse to live be- 
yoDd this world. Is man to live on and forever? 
In this province we must walk by Christian faith; 
we cannot say as in philosophy, we know ; still, 
we can say, what is higher and better than this, as 
in Christianity, we do believe. 



The object of life seems to be completeness, and 
whatever reaches that state here, we cannot discern 
any reason why it should live beyond this life. 
Fruits and animals reach perfection here, therefore, 
they manifest no desire for another and higher ex- 
istence. Man is never fully grown in the earthly, 
and his powers, which promise completeness, come 
far short of it while he tarries below. This world 
does not satisfy him. He longs for eternity, and 
asks, in looking up to God, for life forever. 

Reason, then, as we will, everything tends to 
prove man's immortality. In the economy of na- 
ture, we learn that every material want must be 
supplied and satisfied. Man's strongest desire is to 
live forever, advancing in the highest light and 
culture. Here is strong evidence that man is im- 
mortal. 

Since human life is to be everlasting, how essen- 
tial we should make the most of it possible ! 
Christ came to teach us how this might be accom- 
plished. He declared that the kingdom of heav- 
en is not above you or below you, but within you ; 
that it is not enough to believe simply, but one 
must do in order to be saved. He came to show 
us the Father through his works, and he made us feel 
that it is our duty so to live in this world and to 
enjoy it, that we must needs live in and enjoy 
the heavenly. If we do not appreciate the seen, 
how can we hope to appreciate and enjoy the un- 
seen ? As we become familiar with and understand 
nature, and the adaptation and utility of other 
works of God, we are enabled to sec and admire 
Him who is from everlasting to everlasting, and 
the Author of the universe. It is a great mistake 
to suppose that heaven can be gained by abusing 
God's earth or that the future can be made pleas- 
ant by making the jjresent horribly dark. In the 
beginning, God pronounced His works good, and 
this, I feel, will be His final benediction. 

The Master taught that no one is fitted to enjoy 
the kingdom of heaven who ignores .and spurns the 
things below as altogether sensual. Such persons 
must enter the future poorly prepared to see God 
and worship Him in the beauty of holiness. They 
can have but little life or soul. Christ came that 
we might have fulness of life here, and then Ave 
should be sure of abundance of life forever. 

As we study lives under the tuition of Christ, 
we shall think vastly more of the spiritual. We 
shall not lose sight of the seen, but shall view more 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



83 



clearly that which is unseen. The body will not 
become less real, but the soul more actual. Nature 
will lead more directly to God ; science and philos- 
ophy will always be subject to religion ; even all 
human life will become positive proof of eternal 
life. The fear of death, which harasses so many, 
will disappear. To have our children or our 
friends cast off the mortal will not be considered a 
cross, but we will look up to God, praising him for 
his goodness and his light. We shall realize that 
those who have disappeared from the material 
have gone up into the beautiful light where they 
will think more, live more, love more, and enjoy 
more. Through Christ, the stream of death is 
made smooth, so that calm is the passage to the 
other shore. He came, lived, died, rose from the 
dead and ascended to the Father, that we might 
attain to the highest conceptions and conditions 
possible on the earth, and so become better fitted 
for heaven, better fitted for loving God and loving 
His children ; that when we shall walk the golden 
streets, we shall have capacity of sight and capacity 
of soul, to enjoy the future. All who will, can 
keep the soul in a growing condition, can sow so 
as to reap by -and- bye an abundant harvest. All 
who try to asist themselves in this spiritual work, 



God helps, angels help, and there is no such thing 
as failure or disappointment. As thought goes back 
to the past how positive we are made of this ! As we 
think of our fathers, as we think of the apostles, 
as we realize how they, who were true sons of God, 
have found life, we are ready to say, " God help us, 
that we may continue on in their footsteps, that we 
may see much here to satisfy us, and have heaven 
and its riches to hope for/' 

" So I say/' said Mr. McCollester, at the conclu- 
sion of an eloquent and highly interesting dis- 
course, of which this is but a meagre synopsis, 
' those who struggle and those who labor are 
blessed. To such, as the flower fades, as the leaf- 
let withers, as cheeks pale aud friends waste away, 
as the dearest ones go out of sight, immortality 
will become a certainty, the fact that we are to live 
forever will be theirs, and they will see " Beautiful," 
written over the door of every tomb, and hear a 
sweet voice pealing forth, I "am the resurrection 
and the life. I will draw aUmen unto me. " 

After the sermon, a conference meeting was held, 
most of the congregation remaining, which was 
addressed briefly by several persons, the addresses 
being interspersed with singing and prayer, making 
the whole occasion one of great interest and profits 



Meeting at the Unitarian Church. 



Our reporter failed to reach the Unitarian church 
Tuesday evening, and as a consequence we have no 
special report of the sermon of the Rev. N. S. 
Sage of Indiana, who preached in that place. He 
chose his text from Gal. v : 13 — " For brethren ye 
have been called unto liberty." As reported in one 
or two of the papers, his theme was " Spiritual Lib- 
erty." He said the principle of liberty which was 
involved in the text was a iundamental one in the 



forms of faith and church government. Our fathers 
had sought to build up a church in which every 
member might feel himself at liberty to interpret 
the scriptures according to his own conscience. 
He referred to the tendency inherent in all religious 
sects toward intolerance, and earnestly urged his 
hearers to maintain the broadest religious tolera- 
tion. He closed with a review of the prospect of 
our educational institutions. 



Meeting at the Universalist Church. 



"While the Rev. S. H. MeCollester was preach- 
ing in the Baptist Tabernacle, and the Rev. N. S. 
Sage in the Unitarian Church, the Rev. J. H. 
Tuttle of Minnesota was delivering an able and 
impressive discourse to a dense throng in the Uni- 
versalist Church. Mr. Tuttle was assisted in the 
services by the Rev. George Hill of Massachusetts. 
His text was John xii : 32— " And I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth will draw all men unto me." 
We give a brief synopsis of the sermon : 

Many persons cannot understand why Universa- 
lists need lay so much stress on the single fact that 
Jesus will draw all men unto him. Why dwell on 
the doctrine 1 Is it not enough to take care of the 
moralities and enforce practical duties, leaving doc- 
trines to occupy a subordinate position 1 It is not 
enough, because in every system there is some one 
central and prominent fact around which all other 



facts are gathered. This is the case in nature, in 
the planetary system, in science. In political econ- 
omy the central idea is loss and gain. A central 
fact groups all the other facts of mechanics and of 
language. In society there is one permanent social 
law without which there would be no society. 
Every successful man has his leading characteris- 
tic and his preeminent thought. That which made 
Siiakespeare the greatest of poets is that which we 
see to have been uppermost in his thoughts. 

So religion and theology have and must have, 
their central and dominant truths. The character- 
istic fact of religion is love, as Jesus and Paul 
taught. Therefore the religious teacher should 
make his preaching centre in love. This should 
be its prominent peculiarity. Theology, although 
it includes religion has for its prominent character- 
istic, doctrine. And it always has one supreme 



84 



TJN1VERSALIST CENTENARY. 



doctrine. The speaker here emphasised the neces- 
sity of definite points by which to guide the course 
of the wanderer. 

The inner thought of Christian theology is iden- 
tical with the central truth of Universalism — Uni- 
versalism, that is, not as a name of a sect merely — 
but as comprehending whatever is broad and perma- 
nent in the ideas peculiar to our Church. Every 
name by which the other sects distinguish themselves 
represents an idea of subordinate importance. Bap- 
tism, for instance, does not involve a fundamental 
idea or doctrine. Presbyterianism suggests govern- 
ment. Episcopalianism is marked for its manner 
of worship. Nothing but a form or a non-essential 
doctrine divides them. The word Universalism, 
however, represents a doctrine, which whether true 
or not lies at the heart and centre of religion. That 
thought is that Christ will at last draw all men to 
himself. Ask any man what question lies deeper 
than every other, and he must say it is the question 
of the salvation of men. This idea is more pro- 
found and comprehensive than every other,even than 
the idea of the existence of God, or the Bible, or 
the character of Christ. It is not enough to settle 
the question of our own personal salvation. We 
are so linked with others that we cannot stop short 
of the idea of the salvation of all. 

Looking to the Scripture we find in the outset 
the statement : " In the beginning God created the 
heavens and the earth." But that is not the im- 
portant declaration of Genesis. It is rather this ; 
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman." 
For this is a prophecy of the destruction of sin. It 
may indeed puzzle us to understand how sin got 
into the world. But we are principally interested 
in knowing that the Captain of our salvation shall 
strike such a blow on the head of sin as shall make 
it recoil and at last die. In the prophecies, in the 
gospels, and in the epistles, the most precious words 
are not those which announce duty, charity precept, 
bnt those which announce the Fatherhood of God 
and the final triumph of the kingdom of Christ. 



It is sometimes asked if Christ ever distinctly 
taught the doctrine of Universalism. In the speak- 
er's conception the declaration "And I, if I be 
lifted up will draw all men unto me/' is such a 
statement. When Paul was instructing Tim- 
othy he gave as his most important charge : 
Eor therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, 
because we believe in God, who is the Savior of all 
men, especially them that believe. This statement 
had especial significance at that time, when it was 
held that God was mindful of only a portion of his 
children. The speaker would not say that the 
chief thought of Universalism is all that a Chris- 
tian should believe or teach. There are many 
other collateral and important truths. But it will 
be found that they all gather beauty and derive 
dignity from the central thought of God's purpose 
to reclaim and bless all " his children. The argu- 
ment of an over-ruling Providence is not so clear 
that the atheist cannot interpose many serious and 
difficult objections to it. And the only complete 
and satisfactory reply to his position must be 
made from the stand-point of Universalism. Light 
on all the dark problems of human life and history 
come to us through this faith. It reconciles to trial, 
perplexity, and misfortune. Said Chauncey Towns- 
end : " Give but evil an end, and all is clear. 
Make evil eternal and all is obscure." It is the cen- 
tral thought of Christianity, and the essential one. 
It embraces the only balm of consolation. With- 
out this interpretation of their sorrows how can any 
man consent to minister as a pastor to the people 1- 
If sin and sorrow do not at last end where is there 
any hope or comfort 1 No one, of course, will do 
us the injustice of supposing that our joy at the 
salvation of the prodigal causes us to overlook 
the fact that the transgressor must be adequate- 
ly punished. We believe that all will be made 
finally happy by first becoming holy. And our 
thought is that however long the discipline lead 
ing to it, Christ shall at last draw all souls to 
himself. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 



The principal interest on Wednesday evening 
centered in the Woman's Meeting at the Universa- 
list Church. More than an hour before the meet- 
ing opened the house was crowded beyond the pos- 
sibility of accommodating another hearer. A full 
report of this meeting will be found in another place. 

At the same hour the Eev. E. C. Bolles of New 
York preached in the Unitarian Church, and the 
Rev. Dr. Sawyer of Tufts College Divinity School, 
in the Metho list Church, while the Council was 
convened in the Congregational Church. On the 
Camp Ground at the same time there Were two or 



three quite largely attended and spirited Confer- 
ence Meetings. The Unitarian Church was crowd- 
ed. Mr. Bolles preached a sermon of charcteristic 
beauty and eloquence from the text : " I have kept 
the faith" — II Timothy iv:7. The Methodist 
church in Gloucester is not located in the most ac- 
cessible point, and many Avere unsuccessful in their 
efforts to find it. But a large congregation assem 
bled in it at the appointed hour and listened to an 
able and pungent sermon in elucidation of the 
thought contained in Eph. v : 1 — "Be ye there- 
fore followers (imitators) of God as dear children." 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



85 



COMMUNION SERVICE 



At the Tent. 



An immense congregation gathered at the 
Tent on the afternoon of Thursday, and at the 
hour announced for the commencement of 
the services, scarcely a foot of space be- 
neath the capacious canvas remained unoccu- 
pied. The communion table was spread in 
front of the platform, and on it was placed the 
communion service used by Mr. Murray's 
church, which was imported by him, and is 
now owned by the Universalist church at 
Watertown, Mass. The Salem Band was 
upon the platform, and while the congrega- 
tion were assembling, played several appro- 
priate tunes, and led the singing which formed 
a part of the exercises. 

At two o'clock, Rev. Dr. Chapin appeared 
at the desk, and announced that the services 
would be commenced by singing the 8th hymn 
on the order of exercises : 

Tune. — Auld Lang Syne. 
Hail, sweetest, dearest tie that binds 

Our glowing hearts in one; 
Hail, sacred hope, that tunes our minds 

To sing what God hath done. 
It is the hope, the blissful hope, 

"Which gospel grace hath given ; 
The hope, when days and years are past, 

Wc all shall meet in heaven. 
From eastern shores, from northern lands, 

From western hill and plain, 
From southern climes, the brother-bands 

Msy hope to meet again ; 
It is the hope, the blissful hope, 
Which love divine hath given; 
The hope, when life and time are o'er, 

We all shall meet in heaven. 
No hope deferred, no parting sigh, 

That blessed meeting knows ; 
There friendship beams from every eye, 

And hope immortal glows. 
It i# the hope, the precious hope, 

Which boundless grace hath given : 
The hope, when time shall be no more, 
We all shall meet in heaven. 
Dr. Chapin then read a portion of the 22d 
chapter of Luke,— from the 1st to the 20th 
verses, inclusive. 

Rev. G. L. Di mahest, of Mass., then offered 
the following prayer: 

Our Father in heaven, whose sun shines 
upon us to-day, by whose gracious favor 
we have gathered here to commemorate 
the preaching of thy love, we invoke the 



blessing of the Holy Spirit that our gathering 
together may not only be glad as it is in the 
present, but may bring forth in us in the 
future a more zealous labor, a more faithful 
service, and a quickened faith and hope. 

We thank thee for the multitude of thy mer- 
cies, for the preaching of the Gospel of thy 
love by Jesus and his apostles, by the line of 
martyrs and the teachers of thy truth who 
have faithfully proclaimed it. We thank thee 
for the numbers who to-day do clearly preach 
the Gospel of thine abiding and all-sufficient 
love, and we pray that as we have received 
the truth in our hearts, so w r e may be ready 
to make abundant sacrifices in its behalf, and 
send clown to the generations that are to 
come the same great truth which has in a 
measure inspired our hearts. 

We thank thee for the consolations of the 
Holy Spirit, and as our hearts revert to the 
afflictions which have come upon us, may we 
look up serenely into the heavens, relying 
surely upon the word of thy promise, and 
holding a heavenly hope as an anchor to the 
soul, in all storms and tempests, sure and 
stedfast. And we pray that the Gospel of thy 
love may so work in our hearts that we may 
be filled with love for our fellow men, and that 
in time, human laws may be made to corres- 
pond to the spirit of thy great law of love, 
and all men learn to receive thee as a univer- 
sal Father, and to receive every man and 
woman as a brother or sister. We pray that 
thou w r ouldst fill our lives with good deeds, 
that thouwoulclst purify our hearts, forgive 
all our sins, and that finally thou wilt assemble 
around thy throne in heaven all thy children, 
every wanderer redeemed and brought home, 
and singing thy glory and that of thy Son for- 
ever. Amen. 

The services were continued by singing the 
following hymn, to the tune of " Coronation" : 

All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 

Let angels prostrate fall; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 

And crown Him Lord of all. 

Ye chosen seed of Israel's race — 

A remnant weak and small — 
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, 

And crown Him Lord of all. 



86 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENAKY. 



Let every kindred, every tribe, 
On this terrestrial ball, 

To Him all majesty ascribe, 
And crown Him Lord of all. 



O, that, with yonder sacred throng, 

We at His feet may fall ; 
We '11 join the everlasting song, 

And crown Him Lord of all. 



Sermon by Rev, Dr. Chapin, 

This do in remembrance of me." Luke xxii: 19. 



This injunction may be said to involve 
its own fulfilment. That is, these words 
themselves quicken remembrance. They carry 
us back, through ages of Dogma and Cere- 
mony, beyond the institution of the oldest 
Christian church, — or we may say, to the 
institution of the oldest Christian church, — 
back to that "upper room" in Jerusalem, 
where that humble company of Publicans and 
Fishermen are gathered around a common 
table, and a common Lord. That life of teach- 
ing and of miracle, that wondrous life of 
divinity and humanity, is drawing to its close, 
consciously to Jesus, vaguely to those disci- 
ples. The suggestions of that Paschal feast 
were colored by the thoughts of death and sep- 
aration. The hour of betrayal and abandon- 
ment, the hour of Gethsemane, of the Judg- 
ment Hall, and of the Cross is at hand, and 
even now its shadows are falling upon that 
little group. 

The teachings of our Saviour abound with 
illustrations drawn from things close at hand ; 
a grain of seed, a bird of the air, a lily of the 
field. So now, in the elements of this last 
supper, there were memorials of the death he 
was about to meet. The broken bread was 
an emblem of His torn and pierced body. 
The outpoured wine was a symbol of His shed 
blood. And so, we may believe, in the 
natural emotion of the hour, coloring all 
things with the atmosphere of his own 
thoughts. He took the "bread, and gave 
thanks, and break it, and gave unto His dis- 
ciples, saying, this is my body which is given 
for you; this do in remembrance of me. 
Likewise the cup after supper, saying this cup 
is the new Testament in my blood, which is 
shed for you." 

My friends, I have no intention, at this time, 
of entering into minute discussion or contro- 
versy as to the character or significance of the 
Lord's Supper. It is a matter for very deep 
regret that it has been the subject of so much 
controversj'. It is a sad thing indeed, that 
this rite, which should have been the Eeast of 
Love, and the bond of union for all Christians, 
has been the source of the most divergent 
interpretation, and of the fiercest strife. But., 



surely, whatever inferences may be drawn by 
different minds from the circumstances con- 
nected with the text, in any instance, this 
observance must contain, as an essential ele- 
ment, the idea of something done in the re- 
membrance of Christ. Suppose we take what 
may be called the most simple view. Suppose 
we affirm that there was no formal institution 
at all of what we call " The Lord's Supper," 
no positive and authoritative establishment of 
a rite. " Eather," it maybe said, " does this 
language of our Saviour appeal to something; 
deeper and more vital, than the mere spirit 
of formal obedience. It appeals to those live 
affections of our nature, which must always 
insure the consecration of such a service, held 
under such circumstances." It may be said 
that " this was no more a formal institution 
than the suggestion left us in time and place 
by a dear friend, gone to some distant spot." 
Suppose we say that those symbols are nc 
more arbitrary than the ring whose round en- 
circles the love and the memories of departed 
years, or the tress of hair on which your heart 
sheds a sacred dew that keeps it fresh forever, 
" No more formal, no more arbitrary," it may be 
said, " than this, although lifted by its subject 
into a holy and solemn fact, consecrated and 
made peculiar by all that was consecrating and 
peculiar in the life and death of Jesus." In 
the life, my friends, as well as in the death, of 
Jesus ; for to both do the broken body and 
the shed blood bear witness. The death of 
Christ here " shown forth," was the culmina- 
tion and final expression of his life, and so 
both are associated with these simple symbols. 
Or let us adopt the highest, the most myste- 
rious, sacramental view of this Ordinance, — in 
which the celebration of the rite is associated 
with vital doctrines and the transaction of an 
awful miracle, — the change of the visible 
elements into the very body and blood of the 
Lord. In either case, — or in any interpreta- 
tion which may run between these extremes,, 
— it seems to me that the act done in remem- 
brance of the Saviour is au essential condi- 
tion of the Ordinance. And it seems to me also 
that, whatever may be the theoretical view, if 
the act be done in true and proper remembrance 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



87 



of Jesus, he who partakes of these elements 
receives the real spiritual benefit of the ser- 
vice. It is to the suggestion of these words, 
then, — the words of the text,— that I shall 
coufine my remarks in the remainder of this 
discourse, — " This do in remembrance of me." 

I proceed, then, to remark, that surely 
there was a great power of communion in the 
fulfilment of this injunction for those who ac- 
tually heard it. To no others has it been 
given to realize just such a communion in par- 
taking of the bread and the cup. For with 
that eating and drinking there must have 
blended the most tender personal recollec- 
tions, — memories of past hours, fraught with 
iustruction and with blessedness, — memories 
cherished by John, who lay on the bosom of 
Jesus, and by Peter, who denied his Master 
and was forgiven by him, — memories of the 
strange experiences, the new life, into which 
these humble followers had passed from the 
fisher's boat and the receipt of custom. In a 
very real and a very powerful sense, with 
these remembrances must have been com- 
munion. 

And there must have been a peculiar power 
in remembrance for many members o'f the 
early Christian communities. For, as they 
partook of the bread and the cup, they, too, 
had tender personal recollections, — recollec- 
tions of actual contact and visible communica- 
tion with Him who had ascended on high. 
These simple elements were brought before 
eyes that had themselves felt the pressure of 
His restoring hand, — eyes that had opened 
from blindness, — eyes that had looked up into 
that compassionate face through the dissolving 
mists of death, — or eyes filled with lighted 
tears, as He gave their sick and dying back to 
their arms in life and health once more. 
Hands that had been numb with palsy received 
these blessed symbols of their crucified Ben- 
efactor. Lepers whom His word had made 
clean, — mothers whose infants He had 
healed, — men whose distracted minds He 
had restored to peace, — all these found in the 
bread and in the cup, elements of tender and 
solemn remembrance. And so, I say again 
to them, that act of remembrance was, in a 
special sense, an act of communion. 

But to us, also, and still down to the latest 
age of the Christian Church, — though not in 
such a vivid or special manner, — in the act of 
remembrance, there is the essence of com- 
munion. 

But before proceeding to make a special 
application of this truth, let me call your at- 



tention to the fact, that the form of the injunc- 
tion is two fold : " This do — in remembrance 
ofme." Doing and Remembrance are blended 
in this injunction. I might, if I were disposed 
to take up this matter in a controversial way, 
have said that this very precept \m\ orts a 
command of our Saviour. But, as I have al- 
ready suggested, I have no disposition to do 
this, and I should be sorry indeed to have any 
one before me come to the table of communion 
merely in obedience to a command, merely 
from constraint, or a sort of formal deference. 
Tnere is no power in it, unless we are drawn 
by the magnetism of that almighty love which 
glowed in tie Saviours breast and came from 
the Saviour's heart. Nevertheless, here, I 
say, is this double form, '-Do this, in remem- 
brance of me," and, my friends, the remem- 
brance which is alluded to here, and, in fact, 
all kinds of remembrance, are something more 
than mere acts of recollection, something more 
than mere retrospects of the mind. A true 
remembrance combines recollection with the 
doing, and in the case of communion, even 
when we partake of these elements, there is 
not only a recollection, there is at least a 
spiritual act of the soul, if we partake of that 
communion with the proper and the true idea. 
I trust I do not wander too far away from 
the immediate and peculiar sacredness of the 
injunction, by reminding you how much of 
the action of life ought to be done, and must 
be done, in remembrance. Life, as a process 
of conscious action, at least, consists, I re- 
peat, of action and remembrance. We may 
say that a portion of man's life is in anticipa- 
tion ; that is, in living in the future ; that 
is, in calling up glowing images of years 
to come. But, my friends, while there is 
this era of hope, while there are these aspir- 
ing thoughts and fancies, all that they con- 
template and all that they include does not 
yet constitute our actual life. Every step we 
take is by a process of more or less conscious 
reasoning. There is hardly such a thing as 
an unreflecting act. There may be an uncon- 
scious reflection, but I say every act has more 
or less of reasoning in it, and all reasoning is 
founded upon experience. Experience is the 
guide of action, in so far as our reason is con- 
cerned. We infer what is to be, from what 
has been; we infer the conclusion, from the 
premise which we hold. But if experience is 
the guide to action, remembrance is the essen- 
tial element of experience. We must recol- 
lect, or evidently— it is a truism— our expe- 
rience would be nothing ; we should have no 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



experience in our minds. I say, therefore, all 
life, in reality, is remembrance ; it is the recol- 
lection and the doing. Youth may seem to be 
the period of anticipation, and no doubt anti- 
cipation enters largely into the dreams of the 
young; but after all, even the young, I repeat, 
must act from what they remember. Each 
short, faltering step, each lisping word, re- 
membered, enables them to walk and to speak 
more and more with the expression and the 
power of maturity. Again, in age, we may 
say that memory is failing, the windows of 
life are darkened, the fire is burning low ; and 
it is true, to a great extent, that in age mem- 
ory fails. But that is the memory of near 
events, of events that took place to-day, or 
took place yesterday. As we hurry, my 
friends, towards the gates of the citadel of 
life, we run rapidly by those who stand near- 
est to us, and think only of the past. We 
know how old age, as it were, discards, 
forgets, throws aside the immediate present 
and lives away back in the past. Old scenes, 
old incidents occupy the mind vividly. Is it 
not so with us all ? Is it not so, my brethren, 
with those of us who are beginning to be upon 
the declining side of life ? Upon this occasion, 
we have had a great deal of enjoyment. How 
much of that has been in recalling the past? 
We have looked into faces that bear the famil- 
iar stamp of years. We have looked through 
vistas of memory, and those memories have 
glorified to us this occasion. When we were 
young, When we were inspired with new life — 
we call it all back, and so far at least as the 
social pleasure of this occasion is concerned, 
it has indeed consisted largely in remem- 
brance. Old age, I repeat, therefore, remem- 
bers, only it is a memory of the past, the 
distant, rather than of that which occurs im- 
mediately at hand. 

It is true, again, that the details of memory 
escape us. How difficult it is to recollect 
without artificial aid, what we did a year, 
what we did a month ago, unless .stamped 
upon the mind by some peculiar condition! 
And yet we know, every body knows, the 
memory does not lose, it only suspends its 
faculties. We know what a sudden and start- 
ling revival of incidents sometimes occurs. 
We know at particular crises, how the pro- 
cession of events sweeps through the mind in 
one brief flash, and all life is condensed, as it 
were, into one bright moment of revelation, 
showing that memory is there, living, and 
requiring but the electric touch to bring all 
its power into action. 



Again, life is largely in remembrance, and 
all true remembrance is that which is com- 
bined with action. What we anticipate is not 
substantial, it is not sure; and we are neither, 
in fact, if we obey our Savior's injunction, to 
anticipate the good or the evil— " Sufficient 
unto the clay is the evil thereof." There is no 
life of anticipation that practically belongs to 
us, as conscious and spiritual beings, but our 
true life is remembrance — experience and ac- 
tion, step by step, as we press forward into 
the future. There may be a sense in which it 
is well for men to look forward and calculate 
with a prudent eye to discern what may come 
and what must come ; but the highest and 
best action of life, I repeat, is action in re- 
membrance ; a remembrance which moves us, 
not only to recollect, but to dox 

It is good for us to remember our sins and 
our mistakes — where we have violated the 
Divine law, where we have gone counter to 
the Divine will. Is it not healthy, up to a 
certain degree, for one to look back, and iu 
the light of the interpreting conscience and 
the law of God behold his shortcomings and 
his follies ? This must not be morbid, it must 
not run into vain regrets, it must not paralyze 
us for future action. There is a sense in 
which we should walk like John Bunyan's 
Pilgrim, when his pack rolls off, trusting God 
will forgive the past ; but an element of whole- 
some moral discipline is the recollection of 
past sins and mistakes. There should also be 
a remembrance of the changes and uncer- 
tainties of life, that we hope not too largely, 
that we calculate not too sun ly, that we 
allow for what may come to break our pur- 
pose and to baffle our effort. And, above all, 
there should be a remembrance of the Divine 
goodness, of the Infinite Love that has tended 
us and guided us all our lives long. 

But, my friends, this life ought to consist 
and must consist in remembrance and action. 
Ought we not to proceed from the highest 
point of view? At least, in all the conditions 
of our truest life, in all that comes out of our 
manhood and our womanhood, in all that 
appeals to our best faculties, our noblest con- 
duct, ought we not to live in remembrance 
of Him who is the true life ? Ought not our 
action to be iu His spirit? Can there be any 
other rule ? Can there be any question about 
that? I repeat, that it is remembrance of 
Christ's life that should consecrate and guide 
and determine, our highest and truest action. 
We can take no lesser standard, if we take 
that standard which is to guide us safely and 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



89 



surely. Remember that Life is the true life — 
"the light that lighteth every man that com- 
eth into the world," a sanction, a guide and 
inspiration to your life and to my life. There 
is in it an element of divinity, to show us that 
all life is not materialistic and gross; that 
we are not limited to the objects of the senses, 
and bound in the fetters of the flesh. There 
is a divine life in Jesus to shed this divine 
inspiration into our own life, that it may 
be lifted up, purified and ennobled. 

There is a point of interpretation in that 
life. For I hold that Christ alone interprets 
life; the mystery of life; the dark, sad pas- 
sages that stream inhere and there. Myster- 
ies, my friends, that come down upon life as 
before long the cold and dark tempest will 
come sweeping down upon yonder beautiful 
sea. It will be tossed in wild commotion, 
and that which lies to-day sleeping, as it 
were, with an infant's sleep, shall be a wild, 
irresistible force, driving strong men and 
even navies to destruction. So ever and 
anon there breaks in upon life those inci- 
dents which we cannot explain, and which 
have their interpretation only through the 
life which is Je;«us Christ. That life, which 
sets before us au interpretation of all life, 
a light shed upon its darkest passages, ought 
we not to remember it? 

But that life is also a point of action. 
Christ's words are to guide us, remember. 
Who does not remember a mother's word of 
warning, a mother's kind injunction? Is not 
that a power through all coming time? Or a 
father's wise precepts; do not these guide and 
strengthen us? But, nearer than all words to 
guide us, to inspire us, is this example of 
Christ himself, this life of ihe Redeemer, to be 
the spirit and mould of our own lives. For, 
my fi lends, Christ filled out the circle of hu- 
man experience. There is the wonderful 
thing in Jesus. We sometimes hear men in 
our rationalizing age tell us of the greatness 
and goodness and virtue of Socrates, and, on 
the whole, ascribing a little more excellence 
to Socrates than to Jesus. But, my friends, 
what fullness of life is there in Socrates? 
what power to touch the weak points of my 
soul in him ? to lift me up and inspire me when 
I am cast down by my own passions, or when 
I am in darkness because of my own fears? I 
see one life, one great, sweet, tender life, that 
touches every experience of your life or mine. 
He who was tempted and yet resisted the 
tempter; He whose life was a life of toil, and 



yet toil willingly rendered in the spirit of self- 
sacrifice; He who knelt in the Garden, iu the 
ngony of that great hour when the shadow of 
the Cross fell upon him, and prayed, prayed 
as any mother here might pray by the side of 
her gasping babe — prayed as any father might 
pray who sees the bolt of death falling upon 
those near to him — " Oh, Father, if it be thy 
will, let this cup pass from me!" Oh! how 
closely he touched us there ! And yet, out of 
that sorrow and agony, so human, so sensi- 
tive, so tender, he rose to that sublime reli- 
ance — "Not my will, but thine be done !" 
the consummation, the whole of all human 
prayer! Is not that one point of our experi- 
ence ? All the circle of mortal sorrow, mortal 
need, mortal exposure is touched and filled by 
Him. Is there any other life like that ? Do 
you find it anywhere else? Do you not find it 
here? Do you not find here iu Him that life 
which all ages honor as the highest life ? For 
there is another peculiarity about it, — that 
while some men have answered to the highest 
ideal, perhaps, of the Semitic mind, the Orien- 
tal mind, the Western mind, have been the 
representative men of their age, or of their 
peculiar locality, Christ is the life of all hearts 
and all minds, presents to all ages his own as 
the true ideal of humanity. Well, then, may 
we act in remembrance of Him, as our life's 
guide, our support, who touches and fills all our 
experience, and by his own example, gives the 
needed supply to all our wants. 

The measure of that life who has filled? 
who has attained it? who has reached it? 
Who is there that has transcended the excel- 
lence of Jesus? Who pretends that anybody 
ever has transcended or reached that excel- 
lence? And therein is it fitted still to be the 
standard of our lives ; for man is so constituted 
that he cannot rest satisfied with anything that 
is limited ; he will fill up the absolutely measured 
circle. It must be that which is boundless in 
excellence, ever suggestive in its iutimations, 
ever opening greater depths, loftier ideas — it 
is this alone which is suited to the condition 
of the human mind. Christ, therefore, as their 
constant, highest, unapproachable ideal, is the 
true guide and standard of human life. 

But all this, you see, implies that remem- 
brance is not a mere act of memory; it is an 
ingathering of Christ's own influence; it is a 
distribution, a precipitation of soul under that 
influence. 

How shall w T e remember Christ? How do 
we remember the departed? What is true 
memory ? What is the best memory to-day of 



90 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



Barnes, and Richards, and Murray, and Ballou, 
and all those men whose names are worthily 
honored now? Merely to tell of what they 
were; merely to recount their deeds? No; to 
imitate them. With their zeal, their spirit, 
their love of truth, their ardent devotion, to 
go forth into the world. 

You honor those you love as you imitate 
them ; as your remembrance combines tender, 
honoring recollections and precipitation upon 
the line of their action, so that doing and re- 
membering become one thing. 

The remembrance of Jesus, my hearers, im- 
plies communion with Jesus, his indwelling 
spirit and presence, and as we commune with 
him, and receive that spirit, thus, thus is he 
truly remembered. 

To whom does Jesus address these words ? 
To the apostles ? Undoubtedly. To the im- 
mediate disciples ? Yes. But were they spe- 
cial? were they exclusive? were they words 
confined to those who sat in that upper guest 
chamber? They are words addressed to all 
down through the ages. From that upper room 
down to every human heart that needs Christ's 
consolation, to every human soul that needs 
his succor, come the words, " Do this in re- 
membrance of me." To all for whom that 
sacrifice was made, to all for whom that love 
was set forth. If for you, Christ has uttered 
no word of truth, if for you Christ has wrought 
no work of love, if for you there is nothing 
consoling in what he said, if for you there is 
nothing inspiring or saving in what he did, — 
turn from these emblems — He is not your 
benefactor! But, oh ! sons and daughters of 
humanity, where are you that you have never 
needed Christ's word of comfort or Christ's 
spirit of guidance and power? And wherever 
you are that need these, you are invited to do 
this in remembrance of Him. All are helped, 
all are blessed by this special act of commun- 
ion, which recalls Christ to us so vividly. 
Not this formal act of communion alone. I 
am willing to say, that better are they who 
live in Christ's spirit, and try to walk in 
Christ's steps, though they never come to the 
table of communion, than those who come here 
coldly and formally, taking the symbols merely 
upon their lips, and turn away without the 
consecrating presence in their hearts. There 
is in truth a real presence, — not the material 
body of Christ in the broken bread, not his 
blood in that which is poured from the cup, 
but His presence in our souls, as we partake 
His quickening influence in our consciences 
and lives j and I say, better those who have 



the spirit and not the form, than those who 
have the form and not the spirit. But we be- 
lieve that this form itself is fraught and preg- 
nant with the spirit of Christ ; that in the con- 
templation of the life of tenderness, and 
beauty, and holiness, which is associated with 
it, our own lives themselves are lifted up 
and inspired. 

Do this that you may truly remember Christ, 
in that remembrance which is not merely of 
recollection, but of action ; is doing as well as 
thinking. Let all who will, come ! We set up 
no barriers of definition before the heart that 
would come to the Lord's table in sincere and 
loving remembrance of him, because the lips 
of this believer do not and cannot pronounce 
our formula. We cannot say this is a Univer- 
saiist, a Unitarian, a Presbyterian, or a Bap- 
tist table. This is the Lord's table ! We dare 
not hedge it up with our formulas ; we dare 
not seal it with our creed. It is open to all, 
by the free gift of Him whose life and death 
are represented there. All who will, come ! 
The profane, the dissolute, do not want to 
come. But the poorest, weakest heart, that; 
knows its guilt, that would come even like 
Mary, that it may touch that hand, or like the 
poor woman who would but cling to the heni 
of the garment, so that healing might flow 
through. Oh, you may best of all come. If 
any stay away, let it be those who are too 
good to come. Do not say you are not good 
enough to come. Those who are too good to 
come, let them go ; those who are strong in 
themselves, let them go. But those who 
know how weak they are under temptation, 
and how often they fall in the battle of life, 
yet wish to rise and struggle on, you, for 
whom Christ peculiarly lived, for whom his 
word is peculiarly set forth, come ! We can 
set up no barriers to exclude yon here. " This 
do in remembrance of me." Not "of human 
doctrines concerning me." That is not the 
Master's requisition. 

This is a memorial service ; therefore it is 
not a service of mystery or gloom. It is not 
a trivial thing ; it is not a thoughtless thing. 
Do you say that you cannot partake of the 
Lord's supper; that there is something about 
it that points us to serious life? It ought to 
point to a serious life. Life is serious. It has 
its tender joys, its blessed pleasures, but after 
all, the pith and core of life must be serious. 
If you are men and women living in the face 
of the realities of the world, living with every 
hour teeming with unknown possibilities, liv- 
ing frivolous, aimless lives, for that very 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



91 



reason come, tnat your lives may be trans- 
muted into a true, tender, holy seriousness. 
Not lightly, not frivolously, yet without 
gloom, let us partake of these elements, in 
remembrance of Christ. 

I say, again, the weak, the sinful, all the 
more. The abandoned, the deluded, — men 
who are pluuged deep in the world's cares, 
the world's pleasures, the world's business, 
the world's perplexity, — men whose hearts 
are heavy with the world's changes and trials, 
— to you, these words are addressed. Not 
merely to the saints, not merely to the white- 
robed, the immaculate and the pure, but to 
you, my toiling brethren, to you, my frieuds, 
bound on many of the strange experiences of 
life, to you these words make their solemn and 
their tender appeal. 

Do this in remembrance of what He was and 
is,— in remembrance of what we should hope 
and aspire to be; for, ah! there is in the 
memory of Jesus, when it once enters into the 
human heart, a deep, an abiding power, that 
survives all others, and lingers when all other 
feelings seem to have passed away. You 
know the story of the old clergyman, who had 
gone far along in years, clear down in the 
vale of life; his faculties had failed him; his 
memory had gone, and he sat by his fireside 
in utter unconsciousness of those who were 
around him. Attempts were made to arouse 
him. The name of his son was mentioned : 
"I have no son." The name of some other 
dear one was mentioned : he recollected it not. 
The name of his little grandchild : " I have no 
darling." The name of the Lord Jesus Christ 
was mentioned, and the old man looked up, 
his eye lit with the fire with which in his 
younger years he had swept great congrega- 
tions, his voice swelled with something of its 
old power, and he said, "Yes, oh, yes, I do 
remember the Lord Jesus Christ!" It is the 
deepest, most vital, most abiding memory of 
all ; and therefore, because of its power in 
life, in all the experiences of life, do this in 
remembrance of Him. 

My friends, I cannot close these remarks 
without reminding you of one or two points, 
as to which the spirit and suggestion of the 
words before us are peculiarly fitted to the 
present occasion. 

This is especially a festival of remembrance. 
That word " remembrance " strikes the fore- 
most chord of the present hour. We are hero 
in remembrance of the work, the men, the re- 
sults of a hundred years. There is nothing 
irreverent, I trust, in the comparison. We 



think of the little congregation in the upper 
room in Jerusalem ; — we think of the wide 
banyan tree of Christianity, that stretches 
from land to land, and from shore to shore. 
We think of the little band, with something of 
the same energy, — we admit the far narrower 
circle — that scattered the seed a hundred 
years ago ; — we think of the glorious harvest 
that ripens before us to-day. And our work 
here to-day is a work of glad and thankful re- 
membrance. But of what significance is this 
remembrance, of what practical power and 
value ? It is a remembrance, if it is truly one, 
that will be expressed by action; a remem- 
brance that is not merely formal, that is not 
merely sentimental, that is substantial and 
genuine, because it is to be in the form of ac- 
tion. We shall remember our past, we shall 
honor our past, as I have already suggested, 
as we imitate what was good in it, and honor 
it still more as we with faithfulness let our 
contribution of deeds and words and true 
lives tell upon the centuries to come. 

We shall never, of course, participate in 
another Centenary — not in the body ; but 
who knows that we shall not in spirit? We 
must. We shall touch that, we shall touch 
other generations for hundreds of years to 
come, by our faithful lives. By our devotion 
to the truth, by our contributions to the very 
elements that shall make that truth powerful 
and effectual, we shall touch that distant 
future. When, with this same ocean rolling 
before them, perhaps, and these same old 
scarred and wave-beaten rocks standing here, 
but we, lying long in our quiet rest, gen- 
erations far ahead shall come, in God's provi- 
dence, to celebrate the completion of other 
ceutenaries in our history as a sect and de- 
nomination, — we shall touch them, and we 
shall be happy if we are felt in their remem- 
brance as those who are gone are felt in our 
remembrance. We are to conserve and imi- 
tate all that was true and worthy in their 
work ; we are to welcome all that in the ever- 
unfolding process of time comes to us of better 
methods, of fresher views, of new duties. 

Remembrance of the dead and of the de- 
parted — let it be a blessed remembrance. 
We do them honor to-day ; but, my hearers, 
we do them honor as we honor their Master. 
The remembrance of this occasion, in its 
truest, profoundest, most sacred form, is that 
great, all-absorbing remembrance especially 
associated with the rite we are about to cele- 
brate. Remembrance of Him, so that we do 



92 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY. 



His work, glorify His church, and advance 
His cause. We are here to-day announcing 
in simple words of grand and pregnant con- 
fession, th.it we believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We are not ashamed to say it. To the 
philosophy of the age, wilh all its startling 
problems, to the proud spirit of the age, that 
seeks other guides aud standards, or no stand- 
ards at all, we say that we are followers of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. We honor Him and 
His work by this act ; and to-day we confess 
Ilim our Lord and Master. By what more sig- 
nificant act could we confess Him than by this ? 
In our denominational and individual action 
as ministers and people, do this in remem- 
brance of Jesus. Do this, that we may 
charge our hearts and our conduct with His 
truth, His spirit and His life. Charge them 
with His truth. We are to maintain and clefiend 
it. There is power in it. It is the only truth, 
it seems to me, that gives intellectual recon- 
ciliation to all things. It is the only truth that 
stands between the soul bowed down in su- 
perstition on the one hand and that dark and 
desolating materialism which lifts its cold 
and icy head on the other. It is the only 
power which reconciles what must be recon- 
ciled in God's world before there can be a 
mighty, triumphant Church — Reason and 
Faith — Devotion and Intellect — Science and 
Worship. We reconcile these, and we stand 
to-day, I verily believe, in our growing power, 
as that conservative, yet at the same time 
advancing sect, which combines the elements 
that shall reconcile the intellectual discrep- 
ancies of the time. I believe, my friends, 
(and I think more of this than I clo of the 
other) that to us is given the great work of 
spiritual deliverance. 

1 mean, that to us is given the only power 
which can go down and save men — for our 
view of salvation is not deliverance from the 
fire or the puigatory of the future; it is de- 
liverance from man's own sin and all the con- 
sequences of it, be they present or future. 
We believe the only power that cau save men, 
lift them out of their sin, make them ashamed 
of sin, more than that, make them love good- 
ness, is that full exhibition of divine love 
which comes in our truth of God's love for all 
the world. We have confidence that for the 
low slums of humanity, tor the poor wa.fs 
and castaways, the harlot, the unclean, the 
shamed and despised, there is no power but 
the power that can come and say — "God 
lives for you; Christ died for you. Battered 
coin of God Almighty, there is something of 



the Divine image and superscription there 
yet! Bandaged, swathed about with seven- 
fold cerements of sin, God's love shall work 
in your heart until you shall strip them from 
brow and lips, and stumble, like Lazarus, into 
a new and regenerated life." We believe in 
that, and we believe that to us is committed 
the power of salvation and redemption. 

Then we are to work. Christ's spirit, the 
spirit of love, the spirit that belongs to these 
tables, embraces all as God's children. For, 
my friends, we say that all are to come here; 
and if we say this, let us remember that 
our work is to proclaim our truth. But while 
we are to stand for our views of God and 
Christ, we must remember there is something 
broader than that and more than that. It is a 
better work to make men Christians than to 
make men Universalists, for Univ'ersalism 
means merely this sectarian, peculiar view, 
which we believe to be true. There is a 
deeper church than the Universalist church, 
it is Christ's church ; and remember that out- 
side of all churches and creeds, there are 
thousands and hundreds of thousands, who 
have no fixed, definite views, who do 
not know exactly what they believe. They 
know one thing — that they believe in Christ. 
They want his love, they want to be helped, 
strengthened and guided. " Fight your the- 
ological battles," they say; "entrench your- 
selves upon your religious war-fields ; we want 
to come to Christ and be helped and blessed." 
And if our faith is good for anything, it is 
going to be the faith that feeds them, that 
does not merely add members by name to our 
churches, but brings people in because we 
supply that for which they hunger and thirst, 
the truth and love of Jesus Christ. We must 
cherish in our hearts the love of Christ, and 
strive that in the hearts of others his love 
may be cherished. The end of all doctrine, 
all organizations, all creeds, all preaching, is 
to bring men to Christ, to make them to be 
like Him Do this in remembrance of Him, 
that that remembrance may become assimila- 
tion and likeness. Become one with Him 
until that life shall become, as it were, an 
expression of the power of your own life ; 
or, to use the language of the great apostle, 
until " Christ is formed within you." 

That is the end of our denomination, our 
churches, our creeds, —to help to bring men 
into Christ's likeness. And we say this is 
done; men have reached heaven, and have 
reached the highest state whict God appoints 
for them. Therefore it is false to say that we 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



93 



hold up no penalties and no rewards. We 
admit that there are abundant penalties and 
abundant rewards. It is true that it is not 
the doctrine of rewards and punishments 
thnt to us furnishes the great sanction to a 
Christian life, but the desire to be like Christ, 
to attain to something of tnat likeuess. That is 
what we aim for. This, independent of all ex- 
ternal considerations, is to us the great result. 
Meu are not to be scared to it by hell fire, nor 
drawn to it by gleams from heaven, but drawn 
by its own intrinsic excellence and worthiness. 
In a certain book we are told that the envoys 
of one of the most Christian kings were met 
in Palestine by a stately woman, bearing in 
one hand a vase of water, and in the other a 
brazier of burning coals. She was asked who 
she was, and what she had in her hands. "I 
am," she answered, •' the Christian Religion, 
and I come with these burning coals to dry up 
the rivers of Paradise, and with these streams 
of water to quench the fires of hell, that hence- 
forth mankind may love me for myself alone; 
may forsake sin and cleave to good, for the 
hate of sin and for the love of goodness." 
When we have brought men to do this, we 
have done our work and Christ's work, — a 
true remembrance of Him, which passes into 
every reproduction of life. 

Therefore, my friends and brethren, for our 
public help and our private blessedness, for 
our hand work, our heart work, our life work, 
on this occasion of remembrance, this oc- 
casion that for us can never recur again, let 
all other remembrances recede, —let them not 
perish, let them rather be absorbed in that all- 
comprehending remembrance which embraces 
all. And in this confession of faith and love 
by which our souls here touch that spiritual 
reality which joins us to all that is worthy 



and enduring in the past and the present, 
upon this occasion, when you commune in 
spirit with the great multitude of worthies 
who have lived and have gone, upon 
this occasion, which, I say, in its sug- 
gestions, oversweeps the few years that 
we can expect to remain here upon the 
earth, under any circumstances, and reaches 
out to communion with the congregation of 
redeemed humanit} r , — upon this occasion, 
let us make known our faith, let us express 
our love. We have met, let us part, in Christ. 
Oh, let us take this cup of divine love, let us 
take this bread, the broken body of our Lord, 
and let us, in this parting hour, with rever- 
ence, and love, and joy, obey that great and 
tender injunction, " This do in remembrance 
of me ! " 

A scene of touching and solemn impressive- 
ness followed, as the vast multitude, pro- 
foundly moved by the discourse to which 
they had listened, and the deep, tender and 
soul-thrilling emotions of the hour, partook 
of the Service of Remembrance. Rev. E. 
Eisner, D. D., of Canton, N. Y., and Rev. G. 
W. Montgomery, of New York, officiated at 
the table, and Dr. Fisher delivered a brief 
address, at the close of which, he invoked the 
Divine benediction, and then the emblems of 
the broken body and shed blood of our Lord 
were carried through the tent by the deacons 
and several of the ministers present, and 
freely offered: "Whosoever will, let him 
come." During this service, Rev. Geo. W. 
Montgomery, of Rochester, X. Y., addressed 
the congregation in a few remarks appropri- 
ate to the occasion, and the service was 
closed by the Doxology — " Praise God from 
whom all blessings flow." 



PJROCEEDIISrGS I2ST COTXN"CIL. 



The Convention met on Tuesday morning at the 
Universalist Church, and was called, to order by 
Rev. J. G. Bartholomew, of Auburn, N. Y., Presi- 
dent of the Convention last year. 

Prayer was offered by Rev. J. H. Hartzell, D. D., 
of Albany, N. Y. 

The roil of delegates was then read by the Per- 
manent Secretary, Rev. Jas. M. Pullman, and a 
quorum answered to their names. 

Mr. Crowell, of N. Y., moved, that an informal 
bailor be taken for President. 

This motion was lost, and a committe of five ap- 
pointed by the Chair to retire and nominate a list 
of officers for the permanent organization of the 
Convention, as follows : Rev. Chas. H. Flubrer, of 
N. Y. ; Rev. W. H. Ryder, D.D., of 111. ; J. D. W. 
Joy, of Boston, Mass. ; W. S. Johnson, of R. I. ; 
and Rev. J. S. Cantwell, of Ohio. 

This Committee soon after reported the following 
list of officers : 

President, Hon. Sidney Perham, of Me. 

Vice President, Rev. J. P. Weston, D. D., of Il- 
linois. 

Secretary, Hon. N. H. Hemitjp, of Minn. 

The report of the Committee was accepted, and 
the officers elected. 

The President, pro tern. I have the pleasure of 
introducing to the Convention the Hon. Sidney 
Perham, Governor elect of Maine, who will preside 
during the session. 

Address op the President. 

Members of the Convention, — I return to you my 
grateful acknowledgments for this expression of 
your confidence, and, bespeaking your kind consid- 
eration and indulgence in the performance of the 
duties assigned me, I will accept the position. 

It is with no ordinary pleasure that I extend to 
this vast audience of brothers and sisters in one 
common faith, coming up from almost all sections 
of this great country, and animated by a common 
spirit in the work which devolves upon a common 
cause, congratulations. You have come here to- 
day for the purpose of celebrating the one hundredth 
anniversary of our denominational existence. We 
have passed through scenes of trial, we have met 
disappointment, and we have achieved most glori- 
ous successes : and, standing as we stand to-day, 
with the road behind us over which we have passed, 



at the one hundredth mile-stone of our great denom- 
inational progress, and walking forward to the 
highway in which we are to travel in the future, 
covered though it may be, to some extent, with 
doubt and mist, yet sufficiently discerned so that we 
may be able to know that it is onward and upward 
toward a higher life, and nearer to the throne of the 
Almighty, we come here to-day for mutual con* 
gratulations. We come not only for this purpose, 
but we come for the purpose of thanking Almighty 
God for the glorious successes which he has vouch- 
safed to the workers in this great cause. We have 
not come here entirely for the purpose of giving 
thanks and for the purpose of congratulations, but 
we are here to labor, we are here to work, and by 
the experience of the past, and the light which the 
present sheds around us, to lay deep those plans 
which we hope will achieve our success in the fu- 
ture. 

It is, perhaps, not imputing too much of success 
to this denomination to say that no religious idea 
has ever taken such firm possession of the public 
mind in this country as the idea on which our de- 
nomination is based. The idea of the Fatherhood 
of God and the Brotherhood of Man, on which we 
are surely based, seems to have taken possession of 
the hearts and of the affections of the people of this 
country as no other denominational idea ever has. 

But, as I said before, we have come here to 
work, and I am not here for the purpose of making 
a speech, but for the purpose of presiding over your 
deliberations, and aiding you, as far as I may be 
able, in the work before you. I am now ready to 
proceed to those duties. 

Mr. Crowell, of N. Y. I move that the 
respective delegates be authorized to fill any vacan- 
cies that may exist in their delegations, and report 
them to the Secretary of the Convention. 

Rev. Dr Brooks. The delegations are already 
empowered to do that, by the State Conventions. 
But whether they have been or not, this Conven- 
tion has no power in the matter. 

Mr. Crowell. If that is so, I withdraw the 
motion. 

The President. The first business in order is 
the appointment of the Standing Committees. 

Hon. Horace Greeley. I should hope the 
committees would not be appointed until the roll of 
delegates is tolerably full. We may need some of 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



95 



those very delegates whose names have not yet 
been recorded. I know there are several delegates 
from my State who are here whose names are not 
on that roll, and I should be glad if the Standing 
Committees could wait until we were quite sure that 
we had not sham delegates, but a roll of delegates 
actually present. 

The Secret art. The law is imperative, and can- 
not be altered : "Each State Convention shall be re- 
quested to return to the Permanent Secretary of 
the General Convention previous to each annual 
session thereof the names of its delegates thereto. 
In case of a failure to do so, no delegate from the 
State Convention shall be admitted to a seat in the 
General Convention until the same shall be fully 
organized." 

The President. The next business would 
seem to be the appointment of the Committee on 
Elections. 

That Committee was appointed as follows : Kev. 
Chas. H. Fluhrer, of N. Y. ; Laurel Beeby, of 
Ohio ; Gen. M. R. W. Wallace, of 111. 

A Committee on Religious Services was also ap- 
pointed, consisting of Rev. Dr. Saxe, of N. Y. ; 
Rev. Dr. Miner, of Mass. ; and Richard Eddy, 
of Gloucester. 

The Committee reported that arrangements had 
been made for a series of religious meetings during 
the session of the Convention, stating the times 
and places, and the report was accepted. 

On motion of Hon. A. Johnson, of Washington, 
a committee was appointed to reserve the requisite 
number of seats at the Tent for the accommodation 
of the delegates. 

The Convention then adjourned, to meet at the 
Tent at 2 1-2 o'clock. 

Afternoon Session. The afternoon session 
was held in the great Tent, which was very well 
filled, some three thousand persons being present. 
Seats wera reserved for the delegates in front of the 
platform, in order that the business of the session 
might be more conveniently transacted, and the 
speakers more readily heard by those who were 
called upon to act on the several questions present- 
ed for consideration. 

The Convention was called to order at 3 1-4 
o'clock, by the President, and Rev. Mr. Fluhrer, 
Chairman of the Committee on Elections, reported 
an additional list of delegates, including two from 
the society at Baltimore. 

A motion was made to accept the report, where- 
upon Dr. Brooks moved to amend, that the report 
be accepted, except so far as it related to the Balti- 
more delegation. He said he proposed to raise the 
question whether a single society should be repre- 
sented by as large a number as the State delega- 
tion of Rhode Island, for instance. 



The amendment was carried, and the report, so 
far as it related to other than the Baltimore dele- 
gates, accepted. 

Hon. Horace Greeley. I move to accept that 
portion of the report which relates to the Baltimore 
delegates. It is not their fault that there are no 
more Universalists in the State of Maryland. 

Dr. Brooks. It is not the fault of our friends 
in Baltimore that there are no more Universalists 
in Maryland, but inasmuch as there are no more 
Universalists in Maryland, I think they must, in jus- 
tice, submit to a limitation of their representation. 
I should be very glad to see Maryland largely rep- 
resented here, but it would be clearly unjust to al- 
low one single society to be represented by a dele- 
gation as large as comes to us from the State of 
Rhode Island, and from several other States. I 
was about to move> when Mr. Greeley's motion was 
made, to recommit the report to the committee, 
with instructions to report the admission of one del- 
egate but as there is another motion before the 
house, I will wait till that is disposed of. 

Mr.. R. Blakely, of Minnesota. I call for the 
reading of the Constitution in regard to what con- 
stitutes membership of the Convention. 

The Secretary read as follows from Art III. of 
the Constitution : 

" In those States and Territories of the United 
States, and in the Foreign States and Provinces, 
where no conventions have been organized, the 
General Convention shall exercise the same juris- 
diction over the associations, societies, churches 
and clergymen therein, who may seek and obtain 
its fellowship, as is or may be exercised by State 
Conventions, where they exist ; and such special 
jurisdiction shall continue until a convention shall 
be organized in such State or Territory. And 
during the continuance of such special jurisdiction, 
every State and Territory so subject shall be enti- 
tled to representation in this body by one Clerical 
and two Lay Delegates." 

Dr. Brooks. I was aware that that was a pro- 
vision of our Constitution, but it seemed to me 
clearly the spirit and purpose of that article to pro- 
vide for a representation of unorganized Universal- 
ist societies and churches, but not to provide that 
a single society should be entitled to full represen- 
tation. Under that rule, no matter if there are 
only half a dozen persons in the Territory of Ne- 
braska, for instance, without forming a society, 
they could come up here with a full delegation. It 
seems to me that would be clearly unjust ; and it is 
in view of that proper discrimination, as it seems 
to me, that I raised the point I did, only speaking 
as the voice of many brethren around me. 

Mr. Greeley. If it is desirable to amend the 
Constitution, we will take that up in order, but 



96 



UNIVERSALTST CENTENARY, 



here is a delegation in exact accordance with our 
rules. I move that the delegation be admitted. 

Dr. Brooks. I do not wish to occupy the time, 
but that is just the point I make, that this is not in 
accordance with the purpose of our rules, however 
it may be in accordance with the seeming letter of 
the rule ; and it is only in view of that fact that I 
made the statement. 

The question was then put, and Mr. Greeley's 
motion carried. 

The Chair then announced the following Assist- 
ant Secretaries : Rev. E. L. Rexford, of Ohio, and 
Rev. J. Smith Dodge, Jr., of Conn., who were ac- 
cepted by the Convention. 

The Committee on Nominations was also an- 
nounced, and accepted, as follows : R. Blakely, 
Minnesota ; Rev. H. W. Rugg, Rhode Island ; F. 
S. Boas, Penn. 

The Report of the Board of Trustees was then 
read by Rev. J. M. Pullman, Permanent Secretary. 

Mr. Joy, of Boston, moved the reference of the 
report to a committee of five. Carried. 

Mr. D. L. Holden, Permanent Treasurer, then 
read his report. 

On motion, the report was referred to an Audit- 
ing Committee. 

The report of the Committee on the Missionary 
Army was then read by D. L. Holden, Chair- 
man of the Committee. 

On motion, the report was referred to the Com- 
mittee to be appointed on the report of the Trustees 

The General Secretary's report was then read bv 
Rev. Asa Saxe, D. D. 

This report was referred to the same committee. 

The Chair announced the following as the com- 
mittee to take into consideration the Report of the 
Trustees and other reports : Bro. J. D. VV. Joy, 
Mass. ; Bro. T. E. G. Pettingill, District of Col- 
umbia ; Rev. G. W. Lawrence, Wisconsin ; Bro. 
E. J. Waldo, Ind. ; Bro. John Eield, Ohio. 

The Auditing Committee was also announced as 
follows: Bro. S. A. Briggs, 111.; Gen. S. E. 
Hersey, Me. ; Bro. B. F. Romaine, N. Y. 

Rev. J. M. Pullman stated that he had received 
official notice of the ratification of the amendment 
to the Constitution adopted at the last convention 
from only six States, and as the rule required the 
ratification by ten States, the amendment has not 
been adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Miner. I rise to inquire whether the 
report now made by the Permanent Secretary kills 
the amendment, or will a reconsideration of the 
question by state conventions at their next sessions 
to the number of ten in all, adopt the amendment ? 
Is there any provison touching that point ? 



Rev. Mr. Pullman. The rule is this : "Addl 
tions, alterations or amendments may be made to 
this Constitution by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members present in national session, provided the 
same shall be approved by a majority of the State 
Conventions at their meetings next following such 
action of said body." 

Rev. Mr. Fluhrer, from the Committee on Elec- 
tions, reported some additional delegates, and the 
report was accepted. 

Rev. J. G. Bartholomew, of Auburn, N. Y., 
moved that the reports on the State of the Church, 
on Education and on Sunday Schools, be made the 
special order for to-morrow afternoon. Carried. 

Mr. Joy, of Boston, called for the report of the 
Committee on Revision of the Constitution, and 
suggested that, as it was in print, it might be re- 
ported by its title, distributed among the members, 
and assigned for some time to-morrow. 

Dr. Brooks, Chairman of the Committee, sub- 
mitted the report in the form suggested, and said 
he had been looking over the programme, and did 
not see any place where the report could be brought 
in, unless a special session was held this evening, 
or the Convention met early to-morrow morning. 

Mr. Greeley moved that the Convention meet to- 
morrow morning, at 8 o'clock, at the Univcrsalist 
Church, for the purpose of considering the report. 

A motion was made to amend by changing the 
place of meeting to the Tent, which, after some little 
debate, was rejected, and the original motion 
passed. 

Mr. Greeley. I desire to give notice that, 
when in order, I shall ask the Convention to con- 
sider this resolution : 

Resolved, As the judgment of this Convention, 
that the Murray Fund should be raised to the full 
amount of $200,000, before our efforts in its behalf 
are relaxed, and should never be dissipated or di- 
minished, but that it should be sacredly set apart 
as the foundation of a Universalist Publishing 
House, after the general plan of the Methodi&t 
Book Concern. 

The Chair then announced the Committee on 
Unfinished Business as follows : Rev. J. M. Pull- 
man, of New York ; Bro. Charles Foster, Mass. ; 
Rev. E. L. Rexford, Ohio. 

Rev. Dr. Saxe, from the Committee, reported 
the order of proceedings for tomorrow, in accor- 
dance with the printed programme, except so far 
as modified by the action of the Convention in 
voting to meet at 8 o'clock for the purpose of 
acting on the report of the Committee on Revision 
of the Constitution. The report was accepted. 

The resolution read by Mr. Greeley was then 
called up, and that gentleman addressed the Con- 
vention. He said : 

Mr. President — The resolution which I have sub 
mitted to the Convention conditionally, and which 
I now offer for consideration and reference to a 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



97 



Committee, relates to the disposition only of the 
$200,000 fund. We have raised this year, or shall 
raise, something like a million of dollars, whereof 
$S00,000 are devoted to local purposes. I am very 
anxious that this §200,000 fond shall in no manner 
be frittered away, that it shall answer a permanent 
purpose, and that that purpose shall be such as to 
bring our views more distinctly and more gener- 
ally before the public than I think they have yet 
been brought. I do not feel that our periodicals 
and our literature command the attention of peo- 
ple outside of our denomination so much either as 
they ought to do or as they might do. For in- 
stance, suppose we had a series of from twelve to 
twenty-four tracts, not merely fly-leaves, as too 
many tracts are, but tracts of from twelve to forty- 
eight pages, explaining and enforcing our views of 
Scripture truth, and our ideas with regard to the 
Divine government, as such men as there are among 
us, such men as our leading men are, would be 
able to explain and enforce them. If we had a 
number of such tracts, and then offices in every 
State, and so far as we are able, in every city, for 
the distribution of those tracts, at cost, not at- 
tempting to give them away, kit saying to our 
friends, " Here are the best statements we are able 
to make of our doctrines and our views ; you can 
be supplied with them at cost, whether you want a 
dozen or a hundred of these tracts," these tracts 
handed to your neighbors in exchange for their 
own, or in answer to their inquiries, would enable 
the general public to understand our views much 
better than they do now. Then we have books, 
which in my view are very important, not now 
accessible. For instance, Mr. Balfour's "Inqui- 
ries." I asked the other day where I could find 
them, and was answered, " They are entirely out 
of print." It seems to me that we need to have 
this and other works of Biblical criticism, which 
explain points that are not easily comprehensible, 
by persons who only read the received translation. 
— not perhaps in great numbers, but they should 
be always on hand. In my judgment, the Metho- 
dist denomination is to-day nearly twice as large 
as it would have been, had it not been for the 
Methodist Book Concern, where any person who 
wishes to know what Methodist views are, as pre- 
sented by their standard authors, on any important 
subject, can go and find the right book, at a mod- 
erate price. I believe the Methodist denomination, 
for which I have great respect, nay, for which I 
have admiration, has pushed itself upon public 
attention, has challenged and commanded public 
regard, by its publications, even more than by its 
excellent system of ministerial appointment and 
re-election. 

Now, such a Publication House we might have. 
This Murray fund will be a much larger founda- 



tion for it than was had by the Methodist Book 
Concern, in its origin. If we could apply it as the 
basis, as the nucleus of a great Publication Office, 
under the direction of eminent laymen as well as 
clergymen, who had a knowledge of business and 
of publishing, I believe we could make that sum, 
without any diminution of its amount, do a very 
important and necessary work. A friend says this 
fund is intended for education and for missionary 
work. I answer that publishing provides for both 
education and missionary work, and I greatly de- 
sire that when we have raised the $200,000, as I 
trust we shall before the end of this year, for the 
general purpose of advancing our doctrines, we 
shall put that fund in the shape where it will 
most extensively and most effectively commend 
our views to the attention, and I hope, also, to the 
approbation, of the general public, who are now to 
a very small extent only, reached by our views. 
There is a very large amount of acquiescence in 
our views by men who do not know or even do 
not believe that the Scriptures teach them ; the 
spirit of the age tends towards that acceptance ; 
but a Scriptural and intelligent knowledge of the 
foundations whereon we rest our views is almost 
entirely confined to the Universalist denomina- 
tion. I would have it otherwise. I would have 
those views as perfectly understood and as per- 
fectly commended as our means will allow. 

I think a plan such as I have rudely outlined 
would command the attention of many thousands 
now who do not hear from us, and for that reason 
I trust this resolution will be referred to some ap- 
propriate committee, to present it for action in 
such shape as will make it acceptable to the great 
body of this Convention. 

A suggestion was made by a delegate that the 
resolution be referred to the committee having 
under consideration the report of the Trustees. 

Bev. Dr. Chapin. That committee already has 
a great deal of woik to do. 

A motion was made that the resolution be re « 
ferred to a special committee of five. 

Rev. Dr. Miner. There is great force in the sug- 
gestion of Dr. Chapin, that the committee to whom 
the documents which have been read were referred, 
will have a great deal of business on hand ; but 
there is this circumstance to be remembered, that 
this very business is in part the disposition of the 
funds to which Mr. Greeley refers. I could have 
wished that the whole subject of Convention action, 
including the disposition of the fund, and therefore 
substantially including the subject-matter of Mr. 
Greeley's resolution, might have been placed in the 
hands of one committee. We should then have 
one plan, and not two, to overthrow or adopt. Of 
course, the committee must consider the whole 
subject-matter, and they must act and present some 
report thereon. 



98 



UN1VERSALTST CENTENARY 



Mr. Greeley. So far as I am concerned, I very 
gladly accede to its reference to that committee. 

Rev. Dr. Chapin. I withdraw my suggestion. 
I m ide it wLh no other purpose in the world ex- 
cept to relieve that committee. 

Rev. Dr. Miner. I think, while it might relieve 
the committee, on the one hand, it might, on the 
other, burden the Convention with unnecessary 
points of di.-cussion. 

The motion to refer to a special committee was 
lost, and the resolution referred to the committee on 
Report of Trustees. 

On motion of Mr. Joy, it was voted that the 
committee be enlarged by the addition of four mem- 
bers. 

The President said he would announce the addi- 
tional names in the morning, and the Convention 
adjourned to meet at 8 o'clock on Wednesday at 
the Universalist Church. 

We pass over the details of the long and not al- 
together enlivening debate on the report of the 
Committee on Revision of the Constitution. It is 
sufficient in this place to say, that although it con- 
sumed most of the time allotted to the sessions of 
the Council, and necessitated the derangement of 
the order of service previously determined upon, 
it resulted in the final disposition of the matter by 
the adoption of the entire report, with some impor- 
tant modirications and amendments. When the 
document comes to us corrected, and under the 
seal of the Secretary of the Convention, we shall 
print it entire. 

Of the things done in the Council which we 
have not before reported and of which it is impor- 
tant to preserve a record, we mention the following. 
After the reference of Mr. Greeley's resolution 
there were added to the committee, Hon. Horace 
Greeley, Latimer W. Ballou, of R. I., C. R. Moor, 
of Me., and Hon. G. F. Mason, of Penn. 

On Thursday, after the Constitution had been 
disposed of, the Committee on Elections reported 
the following standing committees : 

On the State of the Church — Rev. Giles Bai- 
ley, of Pennsylvania, Rev. N. S. Sage, of Indiana, 
Charles O. Ballou, of New Hampshire. 

On Education — Rev. S. H. McCollester, of New 
Hampshire, Rev. A. Kent, of Maryland, and 
Henry B.andy, of Ohio. 

On Sabbath Schools — Rev. J. G. Adams of 
Massachusetts, Charles Russel of Pennsylvania, 
and Rev. H. W. Rugg, of Rhode Island. 

On Complaints, &c. — General S. E. Hersey, of 
Maine, Rev. A. W. Mason, of Michigan, and Hon. 
E. Trask, of Massachusetts. 

Rev. E. G. Brooks, D. D., of Pennsylvania, 
Hon. W. T. Parker of New Hampshire, H. D. 
Williams of Massachusetts and S. A. Briggs of 
Illinois, were added to the Board of Trustees. 



Rev. R. H. Pullman of Illinois was elected to 
preach the Annual Sermon at Philadelphia nexl 
year, with Rev. C. A. Skinner of Conneciicut as 
alternate. 

The Centenary Committee were continued in 
existence for the ensuing year, with the privilege 
of postponing their report till they have com- 
pleted their work. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Brooks, Rev. Messrs. 
Eisher, Ballou and Eddy and others were requested 
to prepare biographies of some of the early founders 
of Universalism in this country, with the view of 
some publisher issuing them in one volume. 

On motion of Mr. Potter, a vote of thanks was 
passed to Rev. Dr. Miner, for his able discourse of 
yesterday. 

On motion of Rev. A. St. John Chambre, a vote 
of thanks was returned to the citizens of Glouces- 
ter and others who had accommodated members of 
the Convention. 

Mr. J. D. W. Joy, of Mass., submitted the Re- 
port of the Committee on the General Secretary's 
Report, the Resolution of Mr. Greeley and the Re- 
port of the Board of Trustees. It is as follows : 

Gloucester, Sept. 22, 1870. 
To the General Convention of Universalists in the 

United States ; 

Brethren : The Committee to whom was re- 
ferred the "Report of the Board of Trustees," em- 
bracing reports of the Committee on the Missionary 
Army, and the General Secretary's Report, submit 
their report. 

The labors of the Board of Trustees, of the Per- 
manent Secretary, of the General Secretary, and of 
Mr. H. B. Metcalf, are entitled to the grateful rec- 
ognitition of the Convention. In place of the cus- 
tomary resolutions in acknowledgment of such ser- 
vices, we deem this formal notice of their efficient 
services during the past year as sufficient. 

The operations of the Board during the year we 
commend to your approval. The continuance of 
the Convention Scholarships we most heartily en- 
dorse, as well as the importance of sustaining the 
system of obtaining funds by the missionary boxes. 
The Washington church movement should be sus- 
tained, and receive all the aid that can be given it ; 
but first, and of greatest importance, is the comple- 
tion of the Murray Fund. It is therefore recom- 
mended that the receipts from the missionary boxes 
at the opening of January, 1871, be added to the 
Fund, and the income from this source thereafter 
be used for th« general expenses of the Convention; 
it is also recommended that the reassessment of the 
quotas among the states by the Board of Trustees, 
as proposed by the General Secretary, be adopted, 
and that the work be vigorously continued until 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



99 



the Murray Fund is fully established, all receipts, 
except as herein provided, and those specially do- 
nated, to be added to said Fund. 

It is deemed wise that the Board of Trustees 
should enter upon no new enterprise until the 
means accumulating from the income of the Mur- 
ray Fund and from other sources shall free the 
Convention from debt, and that the Board be au- 
thorized to contract loans for the purposes of liqui- 
dating existing obligations, and for continuing the 
work of the year ensuing. 

It is earnestly recommended that the Fund be 
not only as rapidly secured as possible, but that it 
be as promptly invested. 

It is important that a more detailed summary of 
receipts and disbursements should be presented in 
future reports of the officers of the Convention. 

The Permanent Secretary should be permitted to 
amend the Report of the Board of Trustees by 
adding the Statistics which he has made up, and 
the General Secretary should have the privilege of 
completing his financial statement to the date of 
the publication of the minutes and reports. 

The Convention have received a request from the 
Committee of Investment appointed by the Board 
of Trustees, to consider the following proposition, 
viz. — 

"Whereas no provision has been made for the 
defraying the expenses of raising and collecting the 
Murray Fund, and whereas the same are a proper 
charge upon that Fund, 

Resolved, That the Trustees of the Convention be 
authorized to adjust and pay said expenses, whether 
the same shaii have been heretofore, or may be 
hereafter increased {when they shall be ascertained 
and properly vouched), out of the gross proceeds of 
said Fund. 

Due consideration has been given to this request, 
both because of its source and of the importance of 
the subject-matter presented, but we cannot recom- 
mend the proposition to your favorable considera- 
tion, deeming that all monies paid into the Treasury 
of the General Convention for the Murray Fund, 
should be held sacred from diminution in any man- 
ner, and that the expenses incident to the raising of 
the fund should be paid in the manner which we 
have herein indicated. 

The resolve presented by Hon. Horace Greeley 
(a member of the committee), and. referred to us is 
as folio ws, viz.: 

Resolved, As the judgment of this Convention, 
that the Murray Fund should be raised to the full 
amount of $2C0,C00 before our efforts in its behalf 
are relaxed, ami that it should never be dissipated 
nor diverted, but that it should be sacredly devoted 
to tne foundation of a Univeralist Publishing House 
after the general plan of the Methodist Book Con- 
rni. 



While we are deeply impressed with the need of 
a freer distribution of our literature, and most 
heartily endorse the views presented by Mr. Greeley 
when offering the resolution, we cannot recommend 
the adoption of the proposition. 

By the plan of the Centenary Committee en- 
dorsed by the last convention, the income of the 
Murray Fund is pledged as follows, viz.: "In aid 
of theological students, the distribution of Univer- 
salist literature, church extension and the mission- 
ary cause." Any diversion of the income to the es- 
tablishment of a Publishing House, or to any one 
of these objects exclusively, would not be in accord- 
ance with the plan upon which the Fund has been 
raised, and the trust imposed on the Convention by 
the terms upon which the Fund has been secured, 
would not be faithfully carried out. But there is 
another reason for our views. By a portion of the 
plan for centenary work this object is commended 
to the liberality of our people, to wit, "A Publica- 
tion Fund, or Fund divorced from private interests, 
and conducted for the pecuniary benefits of the 
church." Tliis has already received attention. For 
donations of no inconsiderable amount have been 
made to existing publishing houses, and they will 
be largely increased as soon as the Murray Fund 
has been raised and the field is clear for this espec- 
ial interest. We feel that the result sought by the 
mover, desirable as it is, will find a more speedy re- 
alization under the auspices of the established Pub- 
lishing Houses than by any new method or organi- 
zation. 

The committee are unanimous in this report, ex- 
cept in regard to the last portion. To this Mr. 
Greeley and F. J. Waldo do not agree. 
For the Committee, 

John D. W. Jot, Chairman. 

Committee : John D. W. Joy, Mass. ; Hon. 
Horace Greeley, N. Y. ; Rev. G. W. Lawrence, 
Wis. : T. E. G* Pettingill, D. C. ; F. J. Waldo, 
Ind. ; John Field, Ohio ; L. W. Ballon, R. I. ; 
Hon. G. F. Mason, Penn. ; Rev. C. R. Moor, Me. 

A concluding session of the Council was held in 
the vestry-room of the Congregational church on 
Thursday evening, Dr. J. P. Weston in the Chair. 
The time was mostly spent in listening to and cor- 
recting the minutes of the session. The only ac- 
tion of importance was the appointment of the Rev. 
J. M. Pullman and the Rev. A. St. John Chambre, 
a committee to attend the next meeting of the 
American Unitarian Conference, and present the 
fraternal greetings of the Univcrsalist body. After 
appropriate remarks by the President and a prayer 
by the Rev. Dr. Ryder, the Convention adjourned 
to meet in Philadelphia in September, 1871. 



L.ofc. 



100 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY 



List of Delegates. 



The special and historic importance of the occa- 
sion has led us to take especial pains to get and lay 
before our readers a complete and accurate list of 
the Delegates. The following, copied from the 
Roll of the Convention and corrected by the Per- 
manent Secretary, may be depended on as full and 
exact. 

Maine. — S. F. Hersey, Pres. State Convention : 
Rev. C. Weston, Sec'y. S. C. ; Keys. A. Battles, J. 
C. Snow, W. E. Gibbs, C. R. Moor. Hon. Sidney 
Perham, Hon. I. Washburn, Jr., R. Dresser, J. 
Wakefield, L. L. Wadsworth, Jr. 

New Hampshire — Chas. O. Ballou, Pres. 
Rev. S. H. McCollester, Sec'y. ; Rev. L. Willis, 
Hon. Wm. T. Parker, Joel C. Danforth. 

Vermont — Rev. J. H. Earnsworth, Pres. 
Rev. Geo. S. Guernsey, Sec'y. Rev. Eli Ballou, D. 
D., Rev. J. T. Powers, Russcl S. Taft, Harvey 
Tilden, A. L. Robinson, S. G. Haskins. 

Massachusetts — Rev. A. St. John Chambre, 
Pres. Rev. Chas J. White, Sec'y. Revs. A. A. 
Miner, D. D., I. M. Atwood, B. V. Stevenson, G. 
J. Sanger, E. Magwire. J. G. Peabody, Nath'l. 
Hinckley, Joseph Day, Chas. Foster, Sam'l Porter, 
Wm. H. Ireland, Wm. C. Barnes, J. D. W. Joy, 
Chas. E. Potter, Thos. G. Frothingham. 

Rhode Island — Chas. E. Carpenter, Pres. 
Wm. S. Johnson, Sec'y., Rev. H. W. Rugg. Olney 
Arnold, L. W. Ballou. 

Connecticut — Rev. Chas A. Skinner, Pres. 
Rev. Cyrus H. Fay. Hon. S. C. Hubbard, D. 
C. Gately. 

New York — E. W. Crowell, Pres. Rev. A. A. 
Thayer, Sec'y. A. Saxe, D. D., E. H. Chapin, D. D., 



Revs. J. G. Bartholomew, Chas. Eluhrer, E. Fisher, 
D.D. Solomon Drullard, Josiah Barber, Hon. Hor- 
ace Greeley, H. F. Zahm, H. H. Darling, Benj. F. 
Romaine, S. G. Guernsey, W. P. Robinson. 

New Jersey — Jacob Birdsall, Pres., Rev. B. 
L. Bennett. Joshua R. Norton, Francis Mackin. 

Pennsylvania — Lewis Briner, Pres., Henry 

E. Busch, Sec'y. Rev. E. G. Brooks, D.D. Gordon 

F. Mason, Fred'k. S. Boas. 

Ohio — J. Q. A. Tresize, Pres. Rev. E. L. Rex- 
ford, Sec'y. Rev. J. S. Cantwell, Rev. H. L. Can- 
field. W. H. Pinney, H. B. Kelsey, Fred'k. Sears, 
Laurel Beeby, W. H. Johnson. 

Michigan — Rev. J. Straub. E. W. Dart, G. 
W. Kennedy. 

Indiana — Rev. N. S. Sage, Rev. Marion Cros- 
ley. Paul R. Kendall, Ezra Bourne, F. J. Waldo. 

Illinois — Rev. T. H. Tabor, Sec'y. W. H. 
Ryder, D.D., J. P. Weston, D. D. G. W. Higgins 
S. A. Briggs, A. Knowles, Gen. M. R. M. Wal- 
lace. 

Wisconsin — Rev. J. Britton, Sec'y. Rev. G. 
W. Lawrence. A. R. R. Butler, Peter Davy. 

Iowa — Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, Rev. E. A. Vafl- 
Cise, Rev. W. W. Merrit. 

Minnesota — Hon. N. H. Hemiup, Sec'y, Rev. J. 
Marvin. R. Blakely. 

Kansas — F. Gleason. 

Missouri — Rev. Stephen Hull. 

West Virginia — Jas. L. Fanagan, Sec'y. H. 
C. McWhorter. 

Dist. Columbia — Alonzo Johnson, T. E. G. 
Pettengill. 

Maryland — Rev. Alex. Kent. Jas. B. McNeaL 



Ministers Present. 



Maine — 21. 



New Hampshire —.11. 



J. H. Amies, 
A. Battles, 
S. S. Davis, 
W. A. Drew, 
W. R. French, 
W. E. Gibbs, 
A. Gunnison, 
N. Gunnison, 
W. W. Lovejoy, 
C R. Moor, 
L. F. Mc Kinney, 
H. C. Munson, 
J. M. Paine 
G. W. Quinby, 
S. B. Rawson, 
J. O. Skinner 
W Sisson, 
J. C. Snow, 
Z. Thompson, 
O. F. Van Cise, 
A. J. Weaver, 



Lewiston, 

Bangor, 

E. Eddington, 

Augusta, 

Brunswick, 

Portland, 

Bath, 

Dexter, 

Orono, 

Augusta, 

Bridgton, 

Turner, 

Gardiner, 

Augusta, 

Machias, 

Waterville, 

Stockton, 

Stevens Plains, 

Mechanic Falls, 

Auburn, 

Biddeford. 



G. W. Bicknell, 

T. Borden, 

W. J. Crosley, 

S. S. Fletcher, 

E. Hewitt, 

S. Laws, 

J. B. Morse, 

S. H. McCollester, 

E. Read, 

L. L. Record, 

B. M. Tillotson, 



Portsmouth, 

Manchester, 

East Jaffrey, 

Exeter, 

Dover, 

Marlboro, 

Hanover, 

Nashua, 

Alstead, 

Marlboro, 

Manchester. 



Vermont — 18. 
G. W. Bailey, Morrisville, 

Eli Ballou, D. D., Montpelier, 

H. F. Ballou, Wilmington, 

J. B. Baldwin, Randolph, 

F. S. Bliss, Barre, 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



101 



J. Eastwood, 
J. H. Farnsworth, 
E. S. Foster, 
J. Gregory, 
G. S. Guernsey, 
G. M. Harmon, 
M. H. Harris, 
J. T. Powers, 
M. Powers, 
Q. H. Shinn, 
R. T. Sawyer, 
L. Warren, 
J. H. Willis, 



Brattleboro, 

Springfield, 

Chester, 

Northfield, 

Rochester, 

Rochester, 

Brattleboro, 

Ludlow, 

West Concord, 

Gaysville, 

Cavendish, 

N. Montpelier, 

Jacksonville. 



Massachusetts — 95. 



J. G. Adams, 
R. P. Ambler, 
J. P. Atkinson, 
I. M. Atwood, 
J. Baker, 
Z. Baker, 
W. Bell, 
L. L. Briggs, 
C. W. Biddle, 
R. A. Ballou, 

B. F. Bowles, 
M. B. Ballou, 
A. Bosserman, 
S. Beal, 

R. M. Bvram, 

C. A. Bradley, 
J. H. Chapin, 
H. I. Cu.-hman, 
E. L. Conger, 
J. Crehore, 

A. St. J. Chambre 
H. Closson, 
E. W. Coffin, 
C. C. Clark, 
G. L. Demarest, 

E. Davis, 

J. E. Davenport, 

C. Damon, 

T. L. Dean, 

R. Eddy, 

S. Ellis, 

J. N. Emery, 

F. C. Flint, 

J. G. Forman, 

E. Francis, 

T. G. Farnsworth, 

J. H. Green, 

T. J. Greenwood, 

W. W. Hayward, 

A. B. Hervey, 

G. Hill, 
W. Hooper, 
G. F. Jenks, 
J. E. Johnson, 
I. C. Knowlton, 
J. J. Lewis, 

C. H. Leonard, 
J. H. Little, 

D. P. Livermore, 
V. Lincoln, 

F. Magwire, 

A. A. Miner, D.D. 
J. H. Moore, 
H. W. Morse, 
H. R. Nve, 
L. R. Paige, D.D., 

E. A. Perrv, 

G, W. Perry, 
J. D. Pierce, 



Lowell, 

Med ford, 

Boston, 

No. Bridgewatef, 

S. Weymouth, 

Worcester, 

Boston, 

Boston, 

Lynn, 

Boston, 

Cambridgeport, 

Stoughton, 

Plymouth, 

Westminister, 

Charles town, 

Methuen, 

Boston, 

Boston, 

Taunton, 

Fitchburg, 

Stoughton, 

Gardner, 

Orange, 

W. Townsend, 

Milford, 

W. Acton, 

Chicopee, 

Haverhill, 

W. Haverhill, 

Gloucester, 

Salem, 

Melrose, 

Southbridge, 

Lynn, 

Cambridge, 

Waltham, 

Boston, 

Maiden, 

Wakefield, 

Peabody, 

S. Dedham, 

Chatham, 

Orleans, 

Allston, 

New Bedford, 

S. Boston, 

College Hill, 

Foxboro, 

Melrose, 

Yarmouthport, 

E. Cambridge, 

Boston, 

Warren, 

Lowell, 

Springfield, 

Cambridgeport. 

W. Scituate, 

Lynn, 

N. Attleboro, 



J. F. Powers, 
W. F. Potter, 
R. S. Pope, 

A. J. Patterson, 
G. Proctor, 

B. E. Russ, 
W. H. Ryder, 
G. J. Sanger, 
T. E. St. John, 

T. J. Sawver, D.D., 

C. E. Sawyer, 
E. Smiley, 

W. A. Start, 

A. Scott. 

B. Smith, 

G. W. Skinner, 
W. R. Shipman, 

B. V. Stevenson, 

T. B. Thayer, D.D., 
W. G. Tousey, 
E. Thompson, 
R. Tomlinson, 
J. J. Twiss, 

C. E. Tucker, 

A. Tyler, 

J. M. Usher, 
G. H. Vibbert, 
R. C. Waltham, 
G. S. Weaver, 
W. W. Wilson, 
J. V. Wilson, 
C. J. White, 

B. Whittemore, D.D., 
G. W. Whitney, 

Q. Whitney, 
N. R. Wright, 



Maiden, 

Wakefield, 

Hyannis, 

Boston Highlands, 

Fitchburg, 

Somerville, 

College Hill, 

Dan vers, 

Worcester, 

College Hill. 

Abington. 

Charlton, 

N. Cambridge, 

N. Orange, 

Boston, 

Quincy, 

College Hill, 

Shelburne Falls, 

Boston, 

Chelsea, 

E. Walpole, 

Plymouth, 

Lowell, 

Marblehead, 

W orcester, 

Boston, 

Rockport, 

Boston, 

Lawrence, 

Shirley, 

Brookfield, 

E. Boston, 

Lancaster, 

Beverly, 

So. Adams, 

W. Amesbury. 



E. H. Capen, 
M. Goodrich, 
H. W. Rugg, 



Rhode Islajscd — 3. 

Providence, 
Pawtucket, 
Providence. 

Connecticut — 10. 



F. S. Bacon, 
O. Brown, 
J. S. Dodge, Jr., 
S. A. Davis, 
C. F. Elliot, 
C. H. Fay, 
P. A. Hanaford, 
W. G. Haskell,' 
A. Norwood, 
(/. A. Skinner, 



Middletown, 

Bridgeport, 

Stamford, 

Hartford, 

Waterbury, 

Middletown, 

New Haven, 

Danbury, 

Meriden, 

Hartford. 



New York — 34. 



J. M. Bailey, 

D. Ballou, 

J. G. Bartholomew, 

E. C. Bolles, 

L. M. Burrington, 

E. H. Chapin, D.D., 

O. Cone, 

T. D. Cook, 

G. H. Emerson, 

C. Fluhrer, 

E. Fisher, D.D., 

R. Fisk, D.D., 

L. J. Fletcher, 

E. M. Grant, 

W. H. Harrington, 

E. Hathaway, 

G. P. Hibbard, 

J. H. Hartzell, D.D., 

H. Jewell, 



Rochester, 

Utica, 

Auburn, 

Brooklyn, 

Troy, 

New York, 

Canton, 

Utica, 

New York, 

New York, 

Canton, 

Canton, 

Buffalo, 

Madrid. 

Canton, 

Potsdam, 

Syracuse, 

Albany, 

Rome, 



102 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



R. C. Lansing, 


Min den, 


J. S. Lee, 


Canton, 


C. F. Lee, 


New York, 


G. W. Montgomery, 


Rochester, 


J. M. Pullman, 


New York, 


A. L. Rice, 


Nunda, 


L. Rice, 


Fulton, 


C. C. Richardson, 


Frankfort, 


A. Saxe, D. D., 


Rochester, 


N. Snell, 


Rochester, 


J. H. Stewart, 


Watertown, 


E. C. Sweetser, 


New York, 


A. A. Thayer, 


New York, 


C. W. Tomlinson, 


Hudson, 


D. C. Tomlinson, 


Fairport. ' 


New Jersey — 1. 


B. L. Bennett, 


Irvington. 


Pennsylvania — 11. 


G. Bailey, 


Reading, 


E. G. Brooks, D.D., 


Philadelphia, 


H. Boughton, 


Brooklyn, 


J. H. Campbell, 


Conneautville, 


A. Getty, 


Saltsburg, 


H. C. Leonard, 


Philadelphia, 


L. F. Porter, 


Brooklyn, 


W. B. Randolph, 


Tidioute, 


A. C. Thomas, 


Tacony, 


AV. N. Van De Mark, 


Pittsburg. 


A. 0. Warren, 


Montrose. 


Ohio — 9. 


H. L. Canfield, 


Peru, 


J. S. Cant well, 


Cincinnati, 


B. F. Eaton, 


Cleveland, 


J. P. McLane, 


Franklin, 


R. T. Polk, 


Oxford, 


E. L. Rexford, 


Columbus, 


W. Spaulding, 


Cincinnati 


A. Wilson, 


Kent, 


W. B. Woodbury, 


Granville. 



Maryland — 1 . 


A. Kent, 


Baltimore. 


Indiana — 3. 


M. Crosley, 


Muncie, 


H. F. Miller, 


Dublin, 


N. S. Sage, 


Logansport. 


Illinois — 10. 


D. P. Bunn, 


Decatur, 


J. E. Forrester, D.D., 


Aurora, 


J. W. Hanson, 


Chicago, 


C. B. Lombard, 


Springfield, 


R. H. Pullman, 


Peoria, 


W. H. Rvder, D.D., 


Chicago, 


H. Slade, 


Elgin, 


0. F. Safford, 


Chicago, 


T. H. Tabor, 


Macomb, 


J. P. Weston, D.D., 


Galesburg. 


Michigan — 6. 


M. B. Carpenter, 


Lansing, 


A. P. Folsom, 


Bay City, 


H. L. Hayward, 


Tecum seh, 


A. W. Mason, 


Concord, 


G. Merrifield, 


Decatur, 


J. Straub, 


Lansing. 


Wisconsin — 2. 


G. W. Lawrence, 


Janesville, 


C. F. Le Fevre, D.D., 


Milwaukee. 


Iowa — 4. 


A. J. Chapin, 


Iowa City, 


W. W. Clayton, 


Oskaloosa, 


W. W. Merritt, 


Clarinda, 


E. A. Van Cise, 


Mt. Pleasant 


Minnesota — 3. 


M. Goodrich, 


Anoka, 


J. Marvin, 


St. Paul, 


J. II. Tuttle, 


Minneapolis. 


Missouri — 1. 


S. Hull, 


Brookfield. 



Total number of clergymen present, 242. 



Diffusion of Universalis!*!, 



Cheap Books and Tracts. 



At a meeting of the Business Committee of 
the late Universalist General Convention, Sept. 
2 2d, Mr. Joy in the Chair, the following Report, 
in response to his resolve submitted to the 
Convention on the 20th, and by that body re- 
ferred to this Committee, was presented and 
read by Mr. Greeley. A majority of the Com- 
mittee, while heartily concurring in its spirit 
and in deeming it most desirable that the ob- 



ject contemplated therein be somehow achiev- 
ed at an early day, felt obliged, by preexisting 
engagements and committals of the Convention 
with regard to the Murray Fund, to withhold 
their sanction, but united in expressing a wish 
that the Report be printed for general consid- 
eration. It is accordingly, as a Minority Re- 
port, commended to the attention and judg- 
ment of the Universalist Church. 



GLOUCESTER, 187Q. 



103 



REPORT. 

The fundamental conceptions of God, of His 
paternity, benignity, and invincible loving-kind- 
ness, which underlie the Universalist faith, are 
now widely accepted and commended outside 
of our Church. Among enlightened thinkers 
and writers, they are rarely questioned. The 
growing abhorrence of War ; the general re- 
pugnance to religious persecution and to every 
phase of priestly assumption or domination ; 
the universal reprobation of every form of judi- 
cial torture ; the demand, ever widening and 
growing more and more imperative, that even 
criminals shall be treated humanely, and that 
justice shall be purified of every trace and 
taint of malignity, attest the prevalence of 
ideas familiar to the fathers of our Church, and 
as widely reprehended, when first propounded 
by them, as was their central, vivifying truth 
that our Heavenly Father will, in His own 
good time, "have all men to be saved." 

But, while these benign and just conceptions 
of the Divine character and purposes are very 
widely accepted, their source is not so general- 
ly recognized. Thousands this day reject the 
Bible and the Christian faith, because these 
are supposed by them to teach that God will 
cast off forever, and consign a very large por- 
tion of the human race to endless suffering and 
wo. Very many are thus ranked with infidels 
and skeptics who, if they knew that the truly 
Christian view of the Divine government ren- 
ders it infinitely merciful as well as inflexibly 
just, and makes the salvation of our entire race 
its object and consummation, would gratefully 
enroll themselves as disciples of Him who 
"came not to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them." 

It is high time that these were made ac- 
quainted with our faith, and with the Scrip- 
tures which affirm and uphold it. It is high 
time that an effort worthy of our strength as a 
church were made to enlighten those who now 
sit in darkness, as to the perfect accord which 
exists between the true Christian faith and the 
most cheering conclusions of the enlightened 
human understanding, the most benignant as- 
pirations of the tender and loving human heart. 

To this end, we advise and recommend that 
the Murray Fund be made up, so soon as pos- 
sible, to the full amount of $200,000, and that 
it be sacredly devoted, with such additions as 
may from time to time be made to it by public 
contribution, gift, bequest, or otherwise, to the 



publication of the standard works wherein our 
faith is explained and defended, and of such 
as may hereafter be added to the list, together 
with a series of Tracts of 16 to 64 pages, each 
illustrating fully some phase of the Christian 
scheme of salvation, or elucidating some por- 
tion of Scripture which has been understood 
or claimed to teach the eternity of evil and 
misery. We may fairly calculate that these 
works and tracts can thus be printed and sold 
at less than half the lowest prices for which 
they have hitherto been afforded. Balfour's 
Inquiries, in one volume, for $1, Ballou on the 
Atonement for 50 cents, Whittemore's Plain 
Guide to Universalism for a like sum, and the 
life of John Murray for 25 cents, would proba- 
bly be among the first fruits of such a devotion 
of the Murray Fund as we contemplate, though 
only the income of that Fund be invested in 
the enterprise, under the direction of capable, 
experienced and thoroughly responsible Trus- 
tees familiar with business, and some of them 
acquainted with printing and publishing. 

Should the Murray Fund be thus devoted, a 
central office, or publishing house, will be re- 
quired, with branch offices for distribution in 
every considerable city where our Church has 
a foothold. Societies auxiliary to the move- 
ment will naturally spring up in every State 
and in almost every live church of our order — 
each society raising funds according to its abil- 
ity, to be invested in the works issued from the 
publishing house at cost, and resold to mem- 
bers and others, where that is possible, or dis- 
tributed without charge where such distribution 
shall be deemed advisable. Should the cen- 
tral effort be thus generally responded to, it is 
not too mucn to expect that One Hundred 
Thousand volumes of coir standard works, and 
at least One Million Tracts, may soon be annu- 
ally disseminated, mainly among inquirers who 
regard Universalism with favor as a system 
eminently worthy of Infinite Goodness, but are 
not yet aware of the unanswerable testimonies 
to its truth which illumine the pages of Sacred 
Writ, from the consoling assurance divinely 
given to our first parents in the hour of their 
greatest tribulation down through the long line 
of prophets to the gracious words of Him who 
spake as never man did, and to the favored 
disciples and apostles who concurred in per- 
ceiving and attesting that the Father sent the 
Son to be the Savior of the world. 

The Murray Fund has already been conse- 



104 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



crated to the promotion of Education and of 
Missions. We submit that in no way can it be 
employed to subserve these ends more effect- 
ively than by placing the best books and tracts 
which explain and commend our faith within 



the reach of all who will buy or read them at 
prices so low as to render them everywhere ac- 
cessible, yet in print so large and clear that 
none who can read at all will find their perusal 
difficult or disagreeable. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

Horace Greeley, 

F. J. Waldo. 



OTVCE IIV 

A. HHJISTDHED YEAES, 



[From the Univeesalist of Oct. 1, 1870.] 



Such a festival of thanksgiving and joy as 
the Universalists of America kept last week on 
Gloucester Fields, can take place in the history 
of no people oftener than " once in a hundred 
years." Nothing but the rounding of a com- 
plete cycle could at the same time so strike the 
imagination and enlist the enthusiasm. A 
demonstration so vast in its proportions and 
grand in its significance, could not have been 
the product of any ordinary emotion. It re- 
quired the sacrifices and memories of a hundred 
years. Every one felt that he was on historic 
ground at an historic hour. In the presence of 
an event of such magnitude and moment per- 
sonal ambitions and animosities were alike for- 
gotten. The greatness of the occasion made 
the most conspicuous individual humble ; while 
it lent dignity to the least. 

The most impressive feature of the occasion 
was the number of people present. Fair and 
perfect as the weather was, few were so pre- 
pared for the spectacle as not to exhibit un- 
feigned astonishment at the size of the multi- 
tude. Exaggerated estimates have, of course, 
been made of this, as of all other large gather- 
ings. But the actual truth is sufficiently in- 
credible. On Wednesday it is certain that 
there could not have been less than twelve 
thousand people on the ground ; and Thursday 
the number could not have been much smaller. 
Of this great throng it is doubtful if more than 
two or three hundred were there merely as 
spectators. Unlike what is usual in such as- 
semblages, there were almost no " outsiders.'* 
It was a pure Universalist congregation. And 
a more orderly, intelligent, wholesome looking 
multitude was, we venture to say, never gather- 
ed in New England. The police employed for 
the occasion report an extraordinary reign 
of sobriety and quiet, not only on the grounds 
occupied by the dwellers in tents, but through- 
out the town. 

The " Mammoth Tent " was provided with 
seats for about 5000 persons. The central por- 
tions were uniformly "^packed ; and during 
the meetings of Wednesday afternoon and 
'Thursday forenoon and Thursday afternoon, 



the entire enclosure, including all the standing 
space outside of the seats, and on and around 
the platform, was densely filled. Probably not 
less than 7000 persons listened to Dr. Chapin's 
sermon before the Communion Service, Thurs- 
day afternoon. Besides the great tent, there 
were on the ground 120 smaller tents, ranging 
all the way from the small Sibley tent up to the 
caterer's spacious saloon. The Publishing 
House Tent was the head quarters of the Camp, 
and through that the multitude coursed un- 
ceasingly from early morn till late in the eve- 
ning. 

The arrangments, made by the Committee 
of the Gloucester parish for the accommodation 
and comfort of the hosts of their brethren who 
came from all sections of the land, elicited the 
warmest praise. In the midst of the dryest 
season known in New England for fifty years, 
they managed to have on the camp ground 
an abundant supply of pure, cold water. In 
the selection and laying out of the camp 
grounds, in the disposition of the tents, in pro- 
viding facilities for communication, transporta- 
tion and the transaction of business ; in polite- 
ness, attention, patience and unstinted liberali- 
ty, they have shown themselves equal to the 
great emergency and superior to the most san- 
guine expectations. The families with whom 
nearly two thousand people were entertained 
for four days, made such an impression on their 
guests as led to the most extravagant eulogies. 
If we should report a tithe of the flattering 
things we have heard of Gloucester hospitality, 
those so unfortunate as not to be at the Con- 
vention, would suspect us of fabrication. The 
Committee, the parish, the citizens, everybody 
that undertook in any way to exhibit the wel- 
come of the town and people to the Centennial 
Convention, covered themselves and their city 
with lasting honor. And when it is remembered 
that the burden laid on the Gloucester brethren 
is many times greater than that any .other place 
or parish has ever been called on to bear, it 
will be seen that we speak the very highest 
praise when we say that they came short in 
nothing. 



106 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



Our complete report of what was done and 
said at the different meetings of the session, af- 
fords as good an opportunity of estimating the 
importance and character of the great convoca- 
tion, as can be given to any one who was not 
present. We give the Occasional Sermon, the 
leading Addresses at all the meetings, the Re- 
ports and the Communion Sermon, entire. Al- 
though we give up nearly thirty columns of our 
regular issue to the Convention reports, and 
print a supplement of thirty-two columns, 
brevier type, in addition, we find ourselves 
compelled to abridge our notices of many of 
the services. We believe, however, the Uni- 
Versalist of the present week conveys to the 
public the fullest report ever made by a Uni- 
versalist journal of the doings of any denomi- 
national body. 

It would not be difficult to mention some 
things to which one critically inclined might 
take exception, or in respect to which, at 
least, he might suggest improvement. Those 
who had often read paragraphs in praise of the 
unusual foresight, promptness and care of the 
management of the Eastern Railroad, could 
not suppress a feeling of disappointment when 
they found themselves obliged to spend three 
hours and a-half on the passage from Boston 
to Gloucester. No improvement was made in 
this feeling by the necessity which compelled 
one- third of the company to stand the whole 
distance. In the meantime, it operated un- 
favorably to most people, not to be able to 
find either in Boston, or anywhere along the 
route, or at Gloucester, any person who ap- 
peared to have any authority or who was 
ready to assume any responsibility. Perhaps 
it would not be correct to say that the Eastern 



Road — as to the Universalist Centenary Cel 
ebration — was badly managed ; but it certain- 
ly seems to us a just statement to declare that 
it was not managed at all. From whatever cen- 
sure is conveyed in the foregoing remarks, we 
wish wholly to except the agent appointed by 
the Eastern Road to countersign tickets at 
Gloucester, Mr. B. S. Ally. The task he un- 
dertook was truly herculean ; hut he performed 
it cheerfully, completely, and to the satisfac- 
tion of all. 

The press, generally gave such attention to 
the Celebration as its importance demanded. 
The Gloucester Teleqraph and Advertiser, pre- 
sented very full and accurate reports, filling 
most of their editorial pages. The Boston 
Journal, Traveller, Transcript, Herald, and es- 
pecially the Post, were furnished with reliable 
and readable accounts of the Convention's 
proceedings. The Boston Advertiser atoned 
by a handsome editorial for its meagre des- 
patches. The New York Times was repre- 
sented by a gentleman who knew how to do 
ample justice to the occasion. The Tribune 
had two reproters and its editor-in-chief pres- 
ent, and gave over four columns of its space on 
Thursday morning to Dr. Miner's Sermon. 
The Springfield Republican published an ex- 
cellent report of the doings of the Convention, 
and we learn that papers in Philadelphia, Chi- 
cago, Cincinnati and some other cities, printed 
liberal despatches from the Gloucester Conven- 
tion. 

Making all due allowances and subtractions, 
it still remains an unquestionable fact that the 
largest religious convention ever held in this 
country, was in almost every respect entirely 
successful, and more than satisfactory. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



107 



THE PRESS ON THE CENTENARY 
CELEBRATION. 



We give below the editorial comments of a 
few of the leading papers of the country, on 
the great centenary celebration of our church. 
We preserve them in this connection as ap- 
propriately illustrative of the history of the 
event. 

{From the New York Tribune.') 
The doctrine of the final holiness and hap- 
piness of all men has been held in nearly every 
age and every branch of the Christian Church ; 
but Jonx Mukray is very justly regarded as 
the founder of the Universalist Church in 
America. The Universalists of this country, 
therefore, date the origin of their denomina- 
tion to September, 1770, when Mr. Murray 
preached his first sermon in the United States, 
and when the first Universalist Society was 
organized in the land. 

To sigualize the year, to express their grati- 
tude for the success which has been given 
them, and to prepare for a better future, the 
United States Universalists' Convention, 
through Committees appointed for these ends, 
has summoned its conventions and churches 
to liquidate their debts, to renovate old 
churches, and build new ones ; to endow col- 
leges and schools, and multiply means and 
agencies for missionary work. And, specially 
as a memorial of their centenary year, they 
have proposed to raise the generous sum of 
#200,000 as a " Murray Centenary Fund," to 
be invested, and the income to be given to 
the missionary work of their Church. The 
Convention met yesterday at Gloucester, 
Mass., and the reports in other columns are 
something of the vitality of the body and the 
vigor with which they have pushed forward 
their work. The convention will be in session 
for three days. 

{From the Boston Advertiser.) 
There is hardly any chapter in the religious 
history of the world that savors of romance 
more than that which relates to the origin 
and growth of the Universalist denomination 
in the United States. The Pilgrims came to 
New England to enjoy religious freedom, but 
they were a company of men who thought 
alike and were prepared to act together. 
Even the apostles were eleven in number after 



the death of their Master, and there were 
numerous pious women to advise, comfort 
and strengthen thein. But John Murray fled 
from persecution in a spirit somewhat like 
that of Elijah when he escaped from Ahab to 
the mountain with the mournful cry that he 
alone of all the servants of the Lord was 
faithful. And as. Elijah found that even in his 
depression and desire for death his God had 
still a work for him, so Murray discovered 
that it was not without a purpose that he was 
driven from his native land, but that there 
was left to him the work of founding on these 
shores a new denomination destined to grow 
to proportions which no man may limit. 

The sight at Gloucester this week, where 
thousands of those who profess the faith 
which Murray came to teach are gathered, 
is one in which all Christians may. well be 
interested. Differ as men may as to the truth 
or heresy of the particular doctrines which 
are the basis of the gathering, it is a present 
example of the growth which a denomination 
may make in a comparatively short time by 
dint of diligent work. At the same time the 
condition of the denomination to-day is as 
good an answer as it could desire to one of 
the severest criticisms that have ever been 
made upon it. If Uuiversalism be true, it 
has been said, there is no need of any religion 
at all, and as the doctrine spreads, the out- 
ward practice of religious duties at least will 
decrease. But, on the other hand, the facts 
remain that as the denomination gains power 
and numbers it is among the most active in 
building churches, establishing schools, 
founding papers to inculcate its specific doc- 
trines, and, in fact, in all the works of a pro- 
gressive Christian church. The Gloucester 
meeting marks an era in its history. The 
one hundredth anniversary of the foundation 
of the denomination in this country has been 
signalized by the raising of a very large 
sum of money by the voluntary contributions 
of its members, its position as one of the 
important systems of belief is recognized, 
its day of small tilings is past. If its op- 
portunities are wisely used it has a future 
before it of growth and prosperity, many 
fold more brilliant than has been its increase 
during the centenary just closed. 



108 



UNIVERSALIST CENTENARY, 



(From the Springfield Republican,') 
We are just coming into a generation of 
centennial celebrations. The last third of the 
eighteenth century in this country was 
marked by so many great events and so many 
birthdays of sects, communities and revolu- 
tions that the corresponding period of this 
century cannot but be a succession of cen- 
tenary jubilees. Prominent among these will 
be the religious, in which the Methodists led 
oft* in 18G6, and are followed by the Universal- 
ists in 1870, The centennial thanksgiving of 
the latter denomination has culminated this 
week, with the United States convention at 
Gloucester, that being the site of the first 
church edifice ever built by a Universalist 
society in this country. 

The origin of Universalism in America did 
not lack that almost miraculous coincidence 
of circumstances which somehow characterizes 
all great beginnings and makes them smack of 
" special providence." John Murray was an 
Englishman, whom the preaching of John 
Wesley and Whitefield had induced to become 
a Methodist preacher. Being converted to 
Universalism, he suffered so much from the 
persecution of his old associates and from 
private misfortunes, that he resolved to start 
life anew in America. At that time, there 
lived in the village of Good Luck, on the coast 
of New Jersey, Thomas Potter, a planter of 
little learning, but of a vigorous and specula- 
tive mind. He had wrought out for himself a 
religious faith that he longed to hear preached 
to the world, and, to accomplish his desire, 
built a church at Good Luck. To this church 
he invited preachers from far and near, but he 
never found one who held forth his doctrine, 
and the plain, barn-like edifice, which, we be- 
lieve, is still standing, came to be termed in 
derision by the villagers " Potter's meeting- 
house." One Saturday morning in Septem- 
tember, 1870, an English vessel was discovered 
becalmed in the offing, and Potter was seized 
with so profound a conviction that it bore him 
his apostle that when'Rev. John Murray, with 
other passengers, strolled upon the shore, the 
eccentric planter, without the ceremony of an 



introduction, met him with '* Thou art the 
man," and a pressing invitation to his house 
and pulpit. The greeting was a little startling 
and not altogether welcome to a man who was 
flattering himself that he had left his past life 
altogether behind. But Potter was urgent and 
Murray agreed to stay and preach if the wind 
did not change so that he could go on to New 
York. The wind did not change, he preached, 
Potter embraced him after the discourse, and 
in that hour began the career of the Univer- 
salist denomination in America, 

The subsequent career of Murray was 
hardly less stormy than the previous por- 
tion. Gravitating toward New England,— 
then, as now, the most promising field for 
heresy, — he preached at various places, long- 
est at Gloucester, where he established, by a 
long litigation, the existence of the Univer- 
salist denomination before the law. He came 
near being expelled from the town on a 
trumped-up charge of toryism, and afterward 
became chaplain of the three Rhode Island 
regiments in the Continental army, being an 
intimate friend of General Greene. The other 
chaplains petitioned against the appointment, 
but Washington confirmed it. As Universal- 
ism is now preached, it is more the doctrine 
of Father Ballou than of Murray, but the 
central idea was common to both. 

The denomination as now constituted is 
well planted as a church, while its influence 
has been exerted to a still greater extent in 
ameliorating the severity of contemporary 
theologies. It now has two million dollars 
invested in educational institutions, three of 
which are of collegiate rank, — Tufts college 
being the most promising. The academic 
schools take a high rank. In its educational 
field is the most pressing need of work, and 
to this purpose the denomination must bend 
its best energies to keep pace with the other 
sects of the time. The special work com- 
memorative of the present occasion has been 
the raising of $200,000 for general purposes, 
a fund which each succeeding year will prob- 
ably see largely augmented. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



109 



(From the Boston Traveller.) 

The celebration of the American Centenary of 
Universalism at Gloucester, last week, is one of 
the most agreeable incidents of the time. A 
comparison between 1770 and 1870 must be highly 
gratifying to John Murray's followers. Then a 
Universalist was considered by most Christians as 
being no better than an Atheist in respect to his 
religion, no matter how estimable he may have 
been in respect to morality ; but now the whole 
Christian world recognizes the religious worth of 
Universalists. No denomination exists in more de- 
served respect. 

(From the Christian Register.) 

The Register heads its article "A Hundred 
Years," and says: The Universalist Centenary, 
which was celebrated at Gloucester, last week, was 
a notable gathering, and furnishes a positive proof 
of the progress of a large and liberal Christian faith. 
If we go back a hundred years and recall the time 
when John Murray startled the Puritans of Mass- 
achusetts by preaching the doctrine of God's im- 
partial and universal love to a scanty congregation, 
and put that fact by the side of the thousands and 
tens of thousands who came to Gloucester from all 
parts of the country to commemorate the history of 
a hundred years with its rich results — as thus we 
put the past and present face to face, we see what 
a progress has been made in the popular concep- 
tions of the character of God. On this one point 
the Universalists have effected a wide-spread 
change. They have not only organized Universal- 
ist churches, built schools, founded colleges, and 
established journals and printing houses, but they 
have also powerfully influenced the religious ideas 
of the larger sects. As they therefore gathered 
during the week in such crowds to recount what 
they had done, and to take a new start for the fu- 
ture, they could not fail to rejoice and take cour- 
age. 

In every respect the celebration was a success, 
and the result will be to give new enthusiasm to 
the whole denomination. The convention proper, 



which met at Gloucester, is a close representative 
body, small in numbers, and with clearly defined 
powers. In connection with this was what may 
be termed a mass-meeting. On Thursday there 
were interesting services at Murray's old church, 
which is now a barn, and also exercises at the 
grave of the well-known apostle, Jones. It is a 
curious fact that the Orthodox sent the flowers for 
the one and the Baptists for the other. Besides 
the preaching in the tent, several churches were 
open at different times for religious services. The 
great lights, both lay and clerical, were present. 
The Universalists have a number of earnest and 
efficient female ministers, and most of these were 
present, and proved themselves the peers of their 
brethren both in the pulpit and on the platform. 
The women have raised thirty-three thousand dol- 
lars towards the centenary fund. On Thursday, 
Rev. Charles Lowe and Rev. E. E. Hale, as a com- 
mittee from the National Conference of Unitarian 
and other Christian Churches, offered the greeting 
of their body, and Rev. Mr. Hale made a Very ef- 
fective speech. A correspondent of the New York 
Tribune thus characterizes the speech and speaker : — 

" One of the most spirited and stirring speeche 
of the Convention was that of the Rev. E. E. Hale, 
the orthodox Unitarian and energetic editor. He 
came to the front with never a trace of Col. Ing- 
ham in matter or manner, and asserted the doc- 
trines of spiritual brotherhood and liberal Christi- 
anity in a way almost powerful enough to make 
John Murray walk forth approvingly from his 
grave. Mr. Hale believes in the intimate and vital 
connection of practical life and religion. As for 
the bases of our political and religous existence, 
'America has chosen for better or worse, universal 
suffrage. And what does universal suffrage mean, 
but that the doctrine of total depravity is folly and 
blasphemy ! ' " 

We congratulate our Universalist friends on the 
success of their Centenary celebration. It will 
doubtless help forward the work of emancipating 
the world from a false theology, and hasten the 
building up of the great Liberal Christian church 
of the future. 



CEIN'TElSr.A.IlY HYM3STS. 



The following original hymns, written by the 
authors severally named, were sung by " the great 
congregation " at the Jubilee in Gloucester during 
the series of meetings held there. We give them in 
this place rather than break up our reports of ser- 
mons and addresses to insert them where they 
were used. The hymns of Mr. Adams and Mrs. 
Bingham were sung during the service connected 
with the delivery of the Occasional Sermon ; that 
of Rev. C. H. Fay being the closing hymn. 

I. 

BY REV. JOHN Q. ADAMS. 

Tune. — Keller's American Hymn. 
Children of light ! lift your voices on high ! 

Sing ye glad praises to God in this hour ; 
Voices of mortals to angels reply ; 

Sing of His wisdom, and goodness, and power. 
Sing of that grace by the Father revealed, 

Grace to no nation or people confined, 
Grace in the Son, whom the Father hath sealed, 

Full and complete for the race of mankind ! 

Praise that through clouds which so heavily hung 

Over the tribes and the nations below, 
Shone this glad truth, which the angel-choir sung 

Over still Bethlehem, ages ago ; 
'* Peace on the earth , and good-will to mankind ! " 

Truth which all heaven delights to proclaim ; 
Truth in which mortals exultant shall find 

Highest of glory to God's holy name. 

Praise, that this truth through a century gone, 

O'er our broad land hath its radiance shed ; 
Praise, that its brightness, increasing, shines on, 

Light to the blinded, and life to the dead ! 
So through all ages its mission shall run, 

Waking glad anthems on earth's farthest shore, 
Making the Church and Humanity one — 

One in Christ Jesus, the Lord, evermore ! 

II. 

BY MRS. H. A. BINGHAM. 

Tune. — Webb. 
The gospel trump is sounding ; 

The hosts of truth increase ; 
With countless foes surrounding 

Their warfare cannot cease. 
From fields of conquest sweeping 

To victories yet unwon, 
The same glad footstep Keeping, 

Their shining ranks march on. 

Above their thousand banners, 

One royal flag they bear ; 
Ten thousand glad hosannas 

Proclaim one Lord is there. 
The hosts of sin assailing 

They press through strife and loss, 
In one great Name prevailing, — 

One army of the Cross. 



The myriads gone before them, 

With martyr, saint and seer, 
In brighter ranks bend o'er them, 

Their conquering way to cheer. 
And lo, the f?r off dawning 

When all their strife shall cease, — 
The glad millennial morning, 

The thousand years of peace ! 

Through conflict stern and glorious 

To that great end they move, 
When Christ, the King victorious, 

Shall reign o'er all in love. 
That Truce of God unending 

When, every conquest o'er, 
One mighty song ascending, 

Shall praise him evermore. 

III. 

[BY MRS. C. M. SAWYER. 

Tune. — Mockin^ham. 
, long-remembered be the day 
When, o'er the stormy ocean-way, 
The tempest driven vessel bore 
The Saintly leader to our shore ! 

Uncalled, unheralded, alone ; 
His mission to himself unknown : 
A prophet sent by Heaven he came 
A Father's Goodness to proclaim. 

A God, vindictive, cruel, cold, 
His blinded servants taught of old : 
Unseen the Mighty Love which gave 
His precious Son the world to save ! 

Not thus he taught for whom to-day 
Our reverent thanks to God we pay — 
That wondrous Love which angels sung 
E'er filled his heart — inspired his tongue ! 

Ye priests, who reap the fields which he 
First sowed 'mid scorn and obloquy, 
0, tireless, to your labor go, 
Like him — a hundred years ago ! 

IV. 

BY REV. RICHMOND FISK, JR., D.D. 

On summits of a hundred years, — 
Our mountain heights of faith and love, 

We stand to-day released from fears, 
And lift our hearts to God above. 

We look o'er fields of anxious toil, 
Wherein the fathers lived and wrought, 

Who scattered broadcast o'er the soil, 
The seed from Gospel garners brought. 

We look adown the years gone by, 
E'en back a hundred years ago, 

Where round the dying, shadows lie, 
And future life seems fraught with woe. 

For threat'nings then were in the air, 
Dire mutterings then were in the clouds, 

And human hearts were in despair, 
And human faith but pall and shrouds. 



GLOUCESTER, 1870. 



Ill 



Christ's " Peace, be still," had little power 

To calm the tempest driven heart, 
Whe~ day by day, and hour by hour, 
Was heard: " Ye cursed and lost depart." 

To preach, " They shall be comforted," 
Or sing, " The boundless love of God," 

"Was heresy, and in its stead 
Stood flaming the avenging rod. 

But on the darkness of those days 
A marvellous light shall now appear, 

For Murray comes with prophecies 
Of God and angels standing near. 

And now we celebrate the day 
That gave our land this dawn of light ; 

And 'mid rejoicings let us pray : 
God clothe us all with zeal and right. 

V. 

BY EEV. C. H. PAT. 

Tune. — Old Hundred. 
Our hearts, 0, God, beat high with fears 

And hopes, at this impressive hour J 
A Cent'ry's knell tolls on our ears, 

Its closing night-shades round us lower. 

An hundred years are now complete, 
Since on these shores our Murray gave 



The Gospel anthem's key-note sweet,— 
Love's own purpose ALL to save. 

We thank Thee for his hopeful voice, 
Which rang so clear around our land, 

And made the dismal wilds rejoice, 
And deserts bloom on every hand : — 

Which shook grim error's sable throne, 
And rent the gloom of vengeance's storm, 

Till truth's fair sun in beauty shone, 
And showed us mercy's lovely form. 

The praise be Thine for all who chose 
With him to toil , endure and dare ; 

And as their fame before us goes, 
May we their mantles meekly wear. 

— Lo ! now the shadows drift — and pass 
O'er all the sky a dawn appears ; 

And bright as dew drops on the grass, 
Moves on another Hundred Years. 

Our Father's God, we now would crave 
Thine aid, as here, in trust, we pause 

To pledge, with banded hearts and brave, 
Anew our fealty to Thy cause. 

0, bless the banner that we bear ; 

Lead Thou our hosts till strife is done, 
And strains go sounding on the air, 

That all in Thee and Christ are one. 



MAR 21 W3 



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